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English 450 with Dr. Cathy Decker, Fall 2000

Monday and Wednesday, 3 P.M.

Hi!

You probably have a lot of questions and a lot of anxiety about this class. Here are some key things to remember: (1) Will this matter in five years? (2) Breathe (3) You–your soul, your dreams, your capacity, your talent–are not contained, judged, or embodied by any one speech, paper, or test (4) Tell me about it! Be honest, be calm, and usually we can figure it out with some patience and common sense–whatever "it" is! (5) I’m human, and I don’t like it when people yell at me, lie to me, insult me, laugh at me, ignore me, or act rudely. I also assume you are human and don’t like it either. I hope we can treat each other in a relaxed, calm, and polite way!

Yours,

Cathy

Cathy's Office: LA-7C Cathy's Mailbox is in LA-10 Cathy's Phone: 941-2412

Cathy's Office Hours: Mon. & Wed. 1:30-3; Tues. & Thurs. 11:30-12:30

Cathy's email: cathy@hal.ucr.edu http://hal.ucr.edu/~cathy

Grade Scale

F

D- 

D 

D+

 C 

C+ 

B- 

B 

B+ 

A- 

A 

A+

0-54

55-62

63-67

68-73

74-77

78-80

81-83

84-86

87-89

90-92

93-95

96-99

Grade Formula

What

Percent of Total Course Grade

Extra Credit Possibility

Practice

25%

1%

Writing Center Sessions

and Office Hour Visits

18%

3%

Cultural Enrichment

2%

1%

Participation and

Self-Assessment Report

5%

no

Three Writing Projects

15%

no

Quizzes, Graded Work

30%

no

Final Exam

5%

no

Total

100%

5%

Special Required Supplies

  1. John Langan’s English Skills with Readings, 4th edition
  2. The Freedom Writers Diary
  3. Scantrons, 20 of No. 815-E, 5 of 882-ES (bring some of each to class)

Policies

  1. Bring bottled water to class, staying hydrated helps. Don’t bring other liquids or food into the classroom; leave them on a chair or the cement outside the classroom door.
  2. Talk to your classmates before class, during group work, and when no one is trying to present ideas to the class. Interrupt or talk during teacher and student presentations only when it is very, very important and immediate.
  3. In class and my office, turn off your cell phone, pager, watch beeper, CD player, etc.
  4. When in doubt, ask. If out of class, you can call, email, or drop off a note. I dislike making phone calls and checking email, but I do it because I’m an adult. Yet, I don’t tend to do this in a very timely fashion. I’m working on getting back to people faster, but please don’t take it personally if I take a few days to reply.
  5. Come to class on time. If you are late, come in quietly and sit down. Don’t come to school and then not go into class because you late–Better late than never. If you miss a class, call a classmate and find out what you missed. If you tend to miss classes, ask classmates if you can call them and for their number. Be aware you will not be able to get credit or "make up" some things done on the day you miss–graded classwork, quizzes, etc. Homework will often be announced in class.
  6. Late work is usually a problem for me–it takes twice as long to grade or it hinders my ability to discuss the work in class without giving the late person an advantage. Neither of things is good, so I’m taking 20% off late work that causes problems. By our grade scale, the maximum grade possible for late work is an 80 or C+.
  7. I am a thorough grader. Expect big projects to take two to three weeks to grade. Expect small exercises back a little sooner, but please be patient.
  8. We will deal with adult content in this class. Some of the content may be upsetting.
  9. Plagiarized work gets a zero. Cheating through ignorance might get mercy; liars and people who steal from other students or try to hurt other students’ ability to learn get justice, not mercy, and peeve me a great deal.
  10. Keep a record of everything; save all graded work until the report card arrives; make copies of important projects before turning them in. When papers get lost and mistakes occur, copies are a blessing.
  11. Bring all your books, notes, and papers to class, writing center appointments, and office hour visits. The writing center has a "no assignment, no service" policy; I can’t help you with work if you don’t have it with you.
  12. This class is not worth your tears. You reap what you sow. Use common sense.

 

 

Tentative Schedule

The pages listed by each class date are to be read before that class date. The assignments listed for each date are also to be done before the class.

ES=English Skills with Readings FW=Freedom Writers Diary pp.=pages

8/23 FW pp. xiii-10, ES pp. 1-14

8/28 FW pp. 11-21, Reading Exercise #1 Due, ES pp. 15-26

8/30 FW pp. 22-29, Activity 1 in ES pp. 27-9 on Scantron 815-E

9/4 school holiday, no class session

9/6 FW pp. 30-39, ES pp. 560-6, Questions in ES pp. 567-569

9/11 FW pp. 39-50, Prewriting and 1st Draft of Writing Project #1 Due, Activities 1-3 in ES pp. 62-3 on Scantron 815-E (modify directions in that A, TN, and TB= A, OK=B)

9/13 FW pp. 51-62, 2nd Draft of Writing Project #1 Due, Activity in ES pp. 72-4 on Scantron 815-E (modify directions S=A, G=B)

9/18 FW pp. 63-77, 3rd Draft of Writing Project #1 Due, Activity in ES pp.117 on Scantron 815-E

9/20 FW pp. 78-89, Activity in ES pp. 128-130 on Scantron 815-E

9/25 Final Due Date/Collection of Writing Project #1

9/27 FW pp. 89-101, Reading Exercise #2 Due

10/2 FW pp. 101-107, ES pp. 523-9, Questions in ES pp. 529-532

10/4 FW pp. 108-118

10/9 FW pp. 119-126, Prewriting and 1st Draft of Writing Project #2 Due

10/11 FW pp. 126-133, 2nd Draft of Writing Project #2 Due

10/16 FW pp. 133-143, 3rd Draft of Writing Project #3 Due

10/18 FW pp. 143-153

10/23 Final Due Date/Collection of Writing Project #2

10/25 FW pp. 154-161, Reading Exercise #3 Due

10/30 FW pp. 162-178, ES pp. 534-7, Questions in ES pp. 537-539

11/1 FW pp. 178-188

11/6 FW pp. 187-200, Prewriting and 1st Draft of Writing Project #3 Due

11/8 FW pp. 200-208, 2nd Draft of Writing Project #3 Due

11/13 FW pp. 208-218, 3rd Draft of Writing Project #3 Due

11/15 FW pp. 218-226

11/20 Final Due Date/Collection of Writing Project #3

11/22 FW pp. 227-237

11/27 FW pp. 237-249

11/29 FW pp. 249-258

12/4 FW pp. 259-271

12/6 FW pp. 272-282

12/11 Practice Booklet Due; Exam Prep (Final is Monday, Dec. 18, 1:30-4)