Fall 2006

Fall 2006

English 21 -English Fundamentals

Mondays and Wednesdays

Instructor: Dr. Daly

Office Telephone: 818-364-7600 ext. 3311

Office Hours: Monday 12:10 - 12:50

Friday 10:00 – 12:00

Office Location: Instructional Building, Faculty Offices, Cubicle 63

Email : cdalyca@aol.com

Web page: http://www.lamission.edu/english/daly/

Syllabus

Course Description: The course will review and provide an opportunity for students to practice the conventions of standard written English through grammar exercises and sentence, paragraph, and essay composition.

Course Goal: This course is designed to strengthen the student’s command of standard English including grammar, spelling, punctuation, and sentence construction. Students will review these skills as well as learn to write paragraphs and short essays.

Student Objectives: Students will learn to identify and correct basic grammar problems in class exercises and in their own writing. Students will be able to write effective sentences, paragraphs, and short essays.

Book List

Required:

Langan. John. Sentence Skills with Readings.

Other Required Materials

college dictionary and thesaurus

two two-pocket folders

spiral notebook for journal

stapler

blue books for in-class essays and examinations

access to a computer and printer

Class Requirements

Writing Exercises and Essays:

Students will write a series of sentences, paragraphs and essays, both in-class and

out, over the course of the semester. All assignments are due at the beginning of class on the due date. Late essay assignments will be marked down ½ of a grade for every class they are late. Late grammar assignments will not be accepted.

Homework:

Students should expect to spend at least three hours each week on homework

assignments. Some of the assignments have been included in the attached schedule; many will be assigned at the end of class. All students are responsible

for completing these daily assignments before the next class. Again, late grammar

assignments will not be accepted.

Evaluation

The grades will be assigned as follows:

30% papers

15 % preparation & participation

50 % pop quizzes, in-class essays and exams

5% attendance and punctuality

Regarding the 15% for preparation and participation, preparation amounts to having read the material before class and being ready to response to direct questions from the instructor and having completed any homework assignment; in addition preparation includes coming to class with the proper materials (textbook, pen, paper, homework assignment, etc..); participation amounts to responding intelligently to direct questions and contributing spontaneously to class discussions in a productive manner; students who do not contribute to the class discussion in an intelligent, prepared and constructive manner will be penalized. It is very important both for your grade and for the course’s success for you students to contribute thoughtfully to the discussion of the readings and the issues they raise.

Students are required to take the Common Essay Final Exam given during the allotted final exam time period.

Also Note

Class attendance is obligatory as is punctuality. If you arrive late, you will be marked absent. If you miss class, you must contact one of your fellow students to find out about the material covered during your absence and any assignments due; make sure to get the telephone numbers of at least two students whom you can call in such a circumstance. Do not contact me to find out what you missed if you were absent. If you want your absence to be excused, you must supply appropriate documentation. Please note: vacations, car problems, traffic, parking difficulties, job conflicts (in most cases) and the like do not qualify as excusable absences. Three absences that are inexcusable will result in a lowering of your final grade.

Disruptive students will be reported to the college’s disciplinary office and must meet with a school disciplinary counselor before returning to class. They will be responsible for material missed.

Students who plagiarize will be failed.
Schedule

9/6 Wednesday In-class activities:

Course overview; introduction to fellow students, grammar

diagnostic.

Homework: Purchase book.

Reading Ch. 1: “Learning Sentence Skills” and Chapter 2:“A Brief

Guide to Effective Writing”

9/11 Monday In-class activities:

Overview of the writing process; review grammar diagnostics;

Homework: Ch. 3: “Practice in Effective Writing.”

9/13 Wednesday In-class Activities: Writing a Paragraph.

Homework: Writing assignment (due on Monday)

9/18 Monday Blue Book Essay

Sentences

9/20 Wednesday In-class activities: Subjects and Verbs/ Fragments

9/25 Monday In-class activities: Run-ons/Sentence Variety

Homework:

Reading: from Part 4 (TBA)

Writing: Essay 1 (TBA)

Verbs, Pronouns and Agreement

9/27 Wednesday In-class activities: Standard English Verbs/Irregular Verbs

10/2 Monday In-class activities: Subject/Verb Agreement/Consistent Verb

Tense/Additional Information about Verbs

Homework: Revise Essay

10/4 Wednesday Blue Book Exam

Homework: Reading: from Part 4 (TBA)

Writing: Essay 2 (TBA)

10/9 Monday In-class activities: Pronoun References, Agreement,

and Point of View

Modifiers and Parallelisms

10/11 Wednesday In-class activities: Adjectives and Adverbs/Misplaced Modifiers/

Dangling Modifiers

Homework:

10/16 Monday In-class activities: Faulty Parallelisms/ Sentence Variety II

Homework: Revise Essay 2

Punctuation and Mechanics

10/18 Wednesday In-class activities: Paper Format/Capital Letters/Numbers and Abbreviations/ End Marks

Homework:

10/23 Monday Midterm: Blue Book Exam

10/25 Wednesday In-class activities: Apostrophes/ Quotation Marks,

Comma, Other Punctuation Marks

Homework:

Reading: from Part 4 (TBA)

Writing: Essay 3 (TBA)

10/30 Monday In-class activities: Student/teacher conferences

(midterm assessment and goal setting)

11/1 Wednesday In-class activities: Student/teacher conferences

(pre-midterm assessment and goal setting)

Word Use

11/6 Monday In-class activities: Dictionary Use/Spelling Improvement

11/8 Wednesday In-class activities: Omitted Words and Letters/

Commonly Confused Words

11/13 Monday Blue Book Exam

11/15 Wednesday In-class activities: Effective Word Choice

Homework: Reading: from Part 4 (TBA)

Writing: Essay 4 (TBA)

11/20 Monday Student/teacher conferences

(progress assessment and goal setting)

11/22 Wednesday Student/teacher conferences

(progress assessment and goal setting)

Course Review

11/27 Monday In-class activities: Paragraphs

11/29 Wednesday In-class activities: Essays

12/4 Monday In-class activities: Sentence Skills

12/6 Wednesday In-class activities: Sentence Skills

12/11 Monday In-class activities:

Review of basic writing concepts

12/13 Wednesday Last Day of Class: Review

12/18 Monday Final Exam

(Please note: Syllabus may be altered as needed; it is student’s responsibility to keep abreast of any changes or alterations to syllabus or assignments.)

Journal:

Students are required to keep a rhetorical-grammar/ reading journal in which they write down passages from the assigned readings and then comment on both the grammatical structures identifiable in the passage and the effectiveness of that structure in conveying meaning. Students will be instructed on the format this journal should take early in the semester.