Last Updated on Jun. 15, 2009
Instructor: Dr. Leslie Bai
Office: HM 217C Tel.: 516-299-2953
Office Hours: Monday & Wednesday, 3:30 pm – 4:30 pm or by appointment
Email: lesliebai@yahoo.com, hbai@liu.edu
Course wiki: http://lesliebai.wetpaint.com
Class blog: http://lesliebai.blogspot.com
Required Texts:
Nadell, Judith, John Langan & Eliza A. Comodromos. The Longman Writer: Rhetoric, reader, 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 for international students 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
Summary (10%)
Critique (10%)
Essay I: Comparison and Contrast (20%)
Essay II: Create verbal-visual texts (20%);
Essay III: Personal Reflective Essay (20%)
In-class writings and other assignments (10%)
Class Participation (10%): Attendance Sheet is filled out every time.
Portfolio
Extra Credit: Blog posting and comments (10%)
*Any essay submitted after the due date will not be accepted.
Statement on Plagiarism
Plagiarism is a serious and self-defeating business. 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
Writing skill: Read and write
Writing exercise: Summary ("What it Takes", p 1-4, 8-31)
Week 3-4: (Jan. 26, 28, Feb. 2 & 4)
Writing skill: Think before write: Importance of critical thinking in academic writing
Writing exercise: Critique ("What it Takes", p 37-71)
Week 5-7: Feb. 9/11/17/18/23/25)
Instruction to Essay I: (Instructions)
Writing skill: start with outline, thesis statement and introduction
Reading assignments:
In-class evaluation to Essay I (2nd Draft)
Submit Essay I (2nd Draft) on Feb. 18
Essay I due on Feb. 25 (Turn in before class begins)
Week8-11: (Mar. 2, 4, 16, 18, 23, 25) (Mar. 9 & 11 Spring recess, no class)
Instruction to Essay II: Identi-kit (Pick and create visual texts Instructions)
Writing skill:
Reading assignment:
Activity:
Essay II due on Mar. 25 (Turn in before class begins)
Week 12-16: Mar. 30, April 1, 6, 13, 15, 20, 22, 27, 29) (April 8 Passover/ Easter--- NO Class)
Instruction to Essay III: Texts with different perspectives (Instructions to Essay III)
Writing skills:
Reading assignments:
Activity: Exchange and in-class discussion Peer Review on MLA format
Week 17: May 4 & 6 (Final Exam)
Essay III due.
Wrap up the portfolio.
