English 2F-3 (Lec 1942) Comp.: Argument & Analysis --- 2011 Fall


Instructor: Dr. Leslie Bai
Office: HM 217C Tel.: 718-314-0076
Office Hours: Monday & Wednesday, 5:00 pm - 6:00 pm or by appointment
Email: leslie.bai@liu.edu
Course webpage: http://wotan.liu.edu/home/lbai
Class blog: http://lesliebai.blogspot.com
Blackboard course name: ENG 2F-3 Fall2011: Comp. Argument & Analysis

Required Texts:
1. Wysocki, Anne Frances & Dennis A. Lynch . The DK Handbook with Exercises (2nd ed. ). Boston & New York: Longman, 2011
2. Belinda Kremer & Richard McNabb, Collide: Styles, Structures, and Ideas in Disciplinary Writing, Pearson, 2007.

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

Course Objectives:
ENG 2F is a writing course for international students in analysis and argumentation, focusing on scholarly research and documentation. Building on the work begun in ENG 1F, the course develops knowledge of complex rhetorical and stylistic techniques, and produce argumentative essays based on analysis and research. What you are expected to do:
Although ENG 2F continues strategies introduced in ENG 1F, the course focuses more explicitly on critical thinking of reading materials on cultures and encourages students to produce creative writing based on sufficient research. In ENG 2F, students learn to read more closely and think critically by situating texts in broader symbolic, historic, and socio-cultural contexts. In addition, students are introduced to rhetorical conventions of writing in other disciplines.
Read texts by considering the historical, socio-cultural contexts for analysis
Analyze texts rhetorically, taking into account knowledge gained through research
Search and evaluate relevant secondary sources to support the creative writing
Develop research strategies, including ways of incorporating and documenting quotations, summaries and paraphrases
Develop and revise essays supported by research, data and secondary materials

Course requirements (3 credits)
In-Class Diagnostic essay
Essay I (5 pages) (20%)
Essay II (5 pages) (20%)
Research paper (7-10 pages) (30%); (with a title page, "Work Cited" listed in MLA style with a minimum of ten secondary sources, at least four of which are being cited within the essay.) Essay IV (3 pages) (10%)
Assignment Worksheets and online posts (10% + 5% extra)
Class Participation and in-class exercises (10%)
Portfolio
**Only the final draft of each essay will be graded as A, A-, B+, B, B-, C+, C, C-, D, F.
*Any essay submitted after the due date will NOT be accepted. Late submission is only possible with reason(s) acceptable to the instructor, but the grade will be no higher than D. Failing to submit TWO essays will make you 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: (9/7)
Introduction to Class
In-class diagnostic writing

ESSAY I: Critical Thinking and Academic Writing (Topic: Racial Profiling: Should Airports Use it to Screen Passengers?) Due on Oct. 5


Week 2--5: (9/12---10/5)
Instruction to Essay I
Reading Textbook: Part 1, 2, 3, & 7
Writing skills: Analyzing and arguing with evidence

Reading materials:

Estimated Assignment Hours:


ESSAY II: Argument Provided with Solution (Topic: Testing: What Value Do Tests Have?) Due on Oct. 26


Week 6-8: (10/10---10/26)
Instructions to Essay II
Reading Textbook: Part 4 & 5
Writing skills: Organizing and Drafting

Reading materials:

Estimated Assignment Hours:


ESSAY III: RESEARCH PAPER Due on Nov. 29
Topics (Choose one):

Week 9-13: (10/31---11/29)
Intruction to Research Paper
Textbook: Part 6 & 8
Writing skills:

Research documentation styles: MLA & Annotated Bibliography
Criteria for Research Paper

Reading Materials:

Estimated Assignment Hours:


ESSAY IV: Writing Papers on Fiction Due on Dec. 19


Week 14-16: (12/5---12/19)
Instruction to Essay IV
Writing skills: Literary Analysis

Reading Materials and :

Estimated Assignment Hours:


FINAL EXAM


Week 16: (12/19) Submit Portfolio.



"Read a LOT of Chekhov. Then re-read it. Read Raymond Carver, Earnest Hemingway, Alice Munro, and Tobias Wolff. If you don't have time to read all of these authors, stick to Chekhov. He will teach you more than any writing teacher or workshop ever could." ------Allyson Goldin, UWEC Asst. Professor of Creative Writing