ENGLISH 1B: ASSIGNMENTS
Active Reading
While your writing is what you will primarily be evaluated on, the reading assignments are what serve to generate the ideas you put forth in your writing. This class moves at a quick pace, and you should expect new reading assignments before nearly every class. To be successful in this course, it is imperative that you keep up on your reading. Falling even one class behind can have detrimental effects on your ability to complete assignments. You are expected to read actively, meaning you will highlight and underline in the texts you read, and notate questions or comments in the margin. This sort of active reading proves to be invaluable when you begin to write your papers, as ideas and quotes that you found interesting or important will be easy to find. I may periodically check your books to ensure that you are actively reading. Reading checks will count toward your participation grade.
Reading Journal
You will be required to keep a journal containing your answers to assigned discussion/comprehension questions. You must bring your journal to class every day, as the work you do in it will be used to spark in-class discussions or assist you with other in-class assignments. You may also be given in-class assignments to be included in your Reading Journal. It will also serve as an invaluable tool to help you generate ideas for your major writing assignments. The Reading Journal comprises a large portion of your final grade in the semester, so DO NOT allow yourself to fall behind in Reading Journal assignments. I recommend that students come to class with at least a basic idea of how each question might be answered. We will discuss comprehension questions in class. I then suggest that students type up their answers to discussion/comprehension questions after each class discussion to avoid falling behind. Alternatively, students may wish to bring a laptop or tablet to class and work on typing their answers as we discuss them. I will collect and grade journals after each reading unit (Drama, Fiction, Poetry).
Formatting Your Journal for Submission: Your Reading Journal will act as a running record of your understanding of the assigned readings for the semester. Keeping your journal organized and up to date will help you prepare for exams and papers. Journals must be typewritten unless otherwise noted. A properly formatted journal will include:
Creative Assignments
You will periodically be asked to complete a creative assignment. Each assignment will be tied to the genre that we are studying at the time, and may involve composing a poem, ten-minute play or performing a scene or monologue from a play. While these assignments are meant to be fun, they should also be taken seriously and approached with careful thought and respect. Your goal with the creative assignments is to demonstrate your understanding of a particular genre and the literary elements associated with that genre by attempting to employ them in your own writing. Assignments will be graded on your attempt to employ these literary elements in your assignment.
Creative Assignment #1
Creative Assignment #2
Quizzes
You will be given quizzes throughout the semester. Three (3) quizzes will be given based on the Literary Elements Vocabulary lists. These quizzes will ask you to use vocabulary or indicate your understanding of vocabulary in context through direct use of the assigned literature. Other quizzes may be given at my discretion. Some quizzes may not be announced, so regular attendance and keeping up with assigned readings is mandatory.
Analysis/Argumentative Essays
You will be assigned essays in which you are asked to analyze a given work and effectively argue that your analysis is valid using direct quotations and evidence from the assigned readings. While I will provide suggested topics for these essays, you are encouraged to choose your own topic. If you decide to choose your own topic, you must have it approved by me before you proceed with writing your essay. You may email me or see me in class for approval. Suggested prompts can be found at the end of this syllabus on pages 14-16.
Guidelines: Each essay must be between 5 and 7 pages in length. While you are not required to consult outside sources for your analysis essays, I do encourage you to consult the work of professional and academic critics (doing so will only help further your claims). This class runs with the assumption that you are familiar with MLA format (required for all major essays), and possess coherent drafting, organization and editing skills. Any serious defects in these areas, even if the ideas presented are sound, will be reflected in your grade. Your textbook contains a chapter on MLA format, use it as a reference guide when you compose your papers for this course. All formal essays must by typewritten and double spaced with 1.25” margins.
Essay 1
Comparative/Critical Essay
Your final essay for this course must be comparative in nature and include at least 3 outside sources from critical or theoretical works to support your argument. For this assignment, you must choose at least two works we read this semester (although alternative works by the same authors may be considered, with instructor approval) and formulate an argument that either joins them together or puts them in contrast with each other. This can be based on any number of literary elements we talked about this semester, such as theme, character, tone or mood, symbolism, imagery and/or conflict, to name a few. For example, you can discuss the way two authors treat the status of women, or set the way two protagonists address conflict in contrast with one another. The final paper must be 6 to 8 pages in length and include a Works Cited page that adheres to MLA format. A proposal of your topic will be due on 11/19.
Revisions
You may revise any or all of your analysis/argumentative essays for a better grade, provided that you turned in your first draft on time. Remember that revision does not simply mean adding in a new quotation or fixing grammatical errors. It means a re-envisioning of your essay or approach to your topic. Successful revisions often do not closely resemble the original draft and take a considerable amount of time to complete. Revisions must be turned in no later than 2 weeks after the day your final draft is handed back to you.
18 Hours in the Lab
Please note that this class has a lab requirement. Labs are scheduled every Wednesday from 5-5:50pm. Lab attendance, like class attendance, is mandatory. There are no excused absences from lab. If you are unable to attend a lab, see me to arrange a makeup. Absence of more than 3 labs may result in you being asked to drop the course or in a failing grade for the entire course. You will be assigned tasks to complete in the WRC throughout the semester. These may include working on the Literary Elements Vocabulary list, peer editing, group work or individual conferences with me. You will need your text books and any other assigned readings with you at every lab. You may also need your reading journals or other written assignments that you are working on. I will warn you ahead of time if you need anything in lab beside your assigned readings and text books. Students should also have change with them before they come to lab in case they need to print anything while in lab. Most assignments can be found on the WRC Calendar page. You may wish to print them ahead of time.
While your writing is what you will primarily be evaluated on, the reading assignments are what serve to generate the ideas you put forth in your writing. This class moves at a quick pace, and you should expect new reading assignments before nearly every class. To be successful in this course, it is imperative that you keep up on your reading. Falling even one class behind can have detrimental effects on your ability to complete assignments. You are expected to read actively, meaning you will highlight and underline in the texts you read, and notate questions or comments in the margin. This sort of active reading proves to be invaluable when you begin to write your papers, as ideas and quotes that you found interesting or important will be easy to find. I may periodically check your books to ensure that you are actively reading. Reading checks will count toward your participation grade.
Reading Journal
You will be required to keep a journal containing your answers to assigned discussion/comprehension questions. You must bring your journal to class every day, as the work you do in it will be used to spark in-class discussions or assist you with other in-class assignments. You may also be given in-class assignments to be included in your Reading Journal. It will also serve as an invaluable tool to help you generate ideas for your major writing assignments. The Reading Journal comprises a large portion of your final grade in the semester, so DO NOT allow yourself to fall behind in Reading Journal assignments. I recommend that students come to class with at least a basic idea of how each question might be answered. We will discuss comprehension questions in class. I then suggest that students type up their answers to discussion/comprehension questions after each class discussion to avoid falling behind. Alternatively, students may wish to bring a laptop or tablet to class and work on typing their answers as we discuss them. I will collect and grade journals after each reading unit (Drama, Fiction, Poetry).
Formatting Your Journal for Submission: Your Reading Journal will act as a running record of your understanding of the assigned readings for the semester. Keeping your journal organized and up to date will help you prepare for exams and papers. Journals must be typewritten unless otherwise noted. A properly formatted journal will include:
- A typewritten Table of Contents. (Click here for a sample Table of Contents.) (Each time you turn it in, you will need to create a new Table of Contents sheet to include all of the work that has been added to it since the last time it was graded.) This should be treated as one large assignment, so pagination should continue throughout each reading unit.
- Separate sections for each reading unit.
- Each reading unit should begin with the Literary Elements Vocabulary List that we will be working on in the WRC. (More on this later.)
Creative Assignments
You will periodically be asked to complete a creative assignment. Each assignment will be tied to the genre that we are studying at the time, and may involve composing a poem, ten-minute play or performing a scene or monologue from a play. While these assignments are meant to be fun, they should also be taken seriously and approached with careful thought and respect. Your goal with the creative assignments is to demonstrate your understanding of a particular genre and the literary elements associated with that genre by attempting to employ them in your own writing. Assignments will be graded on your attempt to employ these literary elements in your assignment.
Creative Assignment #1
Creative Assignment #2
- Due 12/1
Quizzes
You will be given quizzes throughout the semester. Three (3) quizzes will be given based on the Literary Elements Vocabulary lists. These quizzes will ask you to use vocabulary or indicate your understanding of vocabulary in context through direct use of the assigned literature. Other quizzes may be given at my discretion. Some quizzes may not be announced, so regular attendance and keeping up with assigned readings is mandatory.
Analysis/Argumentative Essays
You will be assigned essays in which you are asked to analyze a given work and effectively argue that your analysis is valid using direct quotations and evidence from the assigned readings. While I will provide suggested topics for these essays, you are encouraged to choose your own topic. If you decide to choose your own topic, you must have it approved by me before you proceed with writing your essay. You may email me or see me in class for approval. Suggested prompts can be found at the end of this syllabus on pages 14-16.
Guidelines: Each essay must be between 5 and 7 pages in length. While you are not required to consult outside sources for your analysis essays, I do encourage you to consult the work of professional and academic critics (doing so will only help further your claims). This class runs with the assumption that you are familiar with MLA format (required for all major essays), and possess coherent drafting, organization and editing skills. Any serious defects in these areas, even if the ideas presented are sound, will be reflected in your grade. Your textbook contains a chapter on MLA format, use it as a reference guide when you compose your papers for this course. All formal essays must by typewritten and double spaced with 1.25” margins.
Essay 1
- Draft #1 Due 10/6
- Final Draft Due 10/20
- Draft #1 Due 11/5
- Final Draft Due 11/17
Comparative/Critical Essay
Your final essay for this course must be comparative in nature and include at least 3 outside sources from critical or theoretical works to support your argument. For this assignment, you must choose at least two works we read this semester (although alternative works by the same authors may be considered, with instructor approval) and formulate an argument that either joins them together or puts them in contrast with each other. This can be based on any number of literary elements we talked about this semester, such as theme, character, tone or mood, symbolism, imagery and/or conflict, to name a few. For example, you can discuss the way two authors treat the status of women, or set the way two protagonists address conflict in contrast with one another. The final paper must be 6 to 8 pages in length and include a Works Cited page that adheres to MLA format. A proposal of your topic will be due on 11/19.
Revisions
You may revise any or all of your analysis/argumentative essays for a better grade, provided that you turned in your first draft on time. Remember that revision does not simply mean adding in a new quotation or fixing grammatical errors. It means a re-envisioning of your essay or approach to your topic. Successful revisions often do not closely resemble the original draft and take a considerable amount of time to complete. Revisions must be turned in no later than 2 weeks after the day your final draft is handed back to you.
18 Hours in the Lab
Please note that this class has a lab requirement. Labs are scheduled every Wednesday from 5-5:50pm. Lab attendance, like class attendance, is mandatory. There are no excused absences from lab. If you are unable to attend a lab, see me to arrange a makeup. Absence of more than 3 labs may result in you being asked to drop the course or in a failing grade for the entire course. You will be assigned tasks to complete in the WRC throughout the semester. These may include working on the Literary Elements Vocabulary list, peer editing, group work or individual conferences with me. You will need your text books and any other assigned readings with you at every lab. You may also need your reading journals or other written assignments that you are working on. I will warn you ahead of time if you need anything in lab beside your assigned readings and text books. Students should also have change with them before they come to lab in case they need to print anything while in lab. Most assignments can be found on the WRC Calendar page. You may wish to print them ahead of time.