S P R I N G 2 0 1 4

English 114B Class

Firing the Mind and Seeing Further

California State University Northridge

Engaging with Others in Academic Discourse

Sir Isaac Newton

If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.

Basic Information

Welcome to Approaches to University Writing!

This 2nd course builds upon the critical reading and academic writing skills you acquired last semester so that you might do well in the intellectual environment of the university and beyond. Our theme for the class is A More Perfect Union: Re-examining Human Rights & Social Relationships. Working in peer groups, you will explore contemporary issues communities grapple with, balancing individual rights with group needs. You will have fun discussing and writing about how we define ourselves both as individuals and a society, as well as how self-identity shapes our behaviors.

Instructor: Mr. John Kubler Office: Sierra Hall 194 or Oviatt Library LRC 3rd floor Office Hours: THUR 4 5pm or by apptmt. Section #: 13529 T-TR 8:00-9:15 JR 245 Email: john.kubler.665@my.csun.edu Disclaimer: All items in this syllabus are subject to possible change

Assignments Overview
Project Space Project Text Project Web Final Portfolio

How do Public & Private Spaces Reflect and Shape our Identities?

How can Self-identity Be defined As a Performative Text?

How does The Internet Affect our Identities & Behaviors?

Two Revised Essays and Reflection Cover Letter

Keep Inquisitive Curiosity Alive!

Objectives & Outcomes

Course Description:
Prerequisites: EPT score of 140-148 and successful completion of ENGL 114A. Expository prose writing with a focus on both content and form. Specific emphases shall include the exercise of logical thought and clear expression, the development of effective organizational strategies, and the appropriate gathering and utilization of evidence. Includes instruction on diction, syntax, and grammar, as well as the elements of prose style. Students receive credit for only one course chosen from AAS, CAS, CHS, ENGL, PAS, and QS114B.

Course Objectives:
Demonstrate competence in university writing Demonstrate the ability to use rhetorical strategies that include the appeal to expertise, logic, and emotion Understand writing as a recursive process and demonstrate its use through invention, drafting, and revision (creating, shaping, and completing) Demonstrate the ability to use conventions of format, structure, style, and language appropriate to the purpose of evidence-based academic writing Demonstrate the ability to use library and online resources Student Learning Outcomes: effectively and to document sources document their sources You will gain the ability to read & view critically Youll respond to a variety of material including academic essays, graphic novels, films, web sites. You will gain the ability to write effectively You will produce a range of writing that demonstrates proficiency with rhetorical strategies and expository writing concepts as you enter academic discussions. You will gain knowledge of the cultural diversity of literature

Students with Special Needs

Please see me early in the semester if you have a documented disability, so we can discuss what accommodations, if any, I might make to help you tosucceed in this class.

Overview of Our Method

The Projects & Participation

The projects build upon the skills you learned in last semesters progressions, yet with greater emphasis on collaboration. Each project entails critical reading, class discussions, fieldwork, small group in-class presentations, and a written essay. There are 3 projects, each requiring various exercises and one essay. There is also a fourth, informal, reflective essay that serves as your portfolios introduction; the portfolio is collected at semesters end.
A. Project Space: How Spaces affect Identity Exercise 1.1: Field Observation Ethnography Exercise 1.2: Group Presentations Essay 1 - Evidence-based Argument B. Project Text: Identity as Performative Text Exercise 2.1: Analysis of Film & Documentary Exercise 2.2: Group Presentations Essay 2 - Evidence-based Argument C. Project Web: How Internet affects Identity Exercise 3.1: Weebly Web site & Topic Blog Exercise 3.2: Graphic Newsletter & Brochure Exercise 3.3: Evaluating Online Sources Essay 3 - Group Collaborative Manifesto

if you do not participate, or you dont attend! Participation:This class is No Distracting Behavior: discussion based. Your While in the classroom, participation grade please dont chew your includes written online bones. The smells and responses to your peers, sounds of eating food are in-class discussions, and distracting for your collaborative group debate classmates. Your peers deserve respect! work.

In the Doghouse the Doghouse You will not succeed in this class

Requirements & Grading

Texts & Materials:
--Everythings an Argument by Lunsford &Ruszkiewicz --Persepolis (Book 2) by Satrapi --1 two-pocket paper folder for Final Portfolio --Computer & Internet Access; MsWord Doc. readibility --Hard copy printouts of all written assignments (no email copies accepted without permission) --Loose paper for in-class writing

Punctual attendance & vigorous participation in class discussions and other group activities, including in-class writing assignments Careful & critical reading/viewing of all assigned texts including colleagues written drafts 3 Projects; ( 7 credit/NC exercises, plus three graded essays2 individual & 1 collaborative)* Quizzes on Reading Assignments Online Moodle Posts, on reading assignments including responses to colleagues Website Creation& Blog (Weebly.com ) Graphic Newsletter & Brochure (part of project) Small group Presentations on contemporary hot topic issues 2 Office Visits with Instructor Final Portfolio plus Reflective Letter/Essay

Grade Percentages
Projects & Moodle Posts30%

Class Participation

30%

(Attendance, Discussions, Debates, Behavior, Deskwork

Quizzes Office Visits

(including Reflective Essay)

15% 5%

Final Portfolio &Website 20%

**********************

Letter Scale
(I will use the +/- grade scale) A 94-100 C+ 77-79 A- 90-93 C 73-76 B+ 87-89 C- 70-72 B 83-86 D+ 67-69 B- 80-82 D 63-66 F= 59 & below D- 60-62

*Late Assignments without approval will reduce your essay grade 1 letter per week! *No essays accepted without all exercises

Course Policies:
Attendance & Participation!
Attendance is vital! This class is a forum for you to exchange ideas with peers and debate your ideas. Therefore, it is extremely important that you attend class regularly and not be late. You are allowed four absences; five or more absences will drop your grade by one full letter. If you get six or more absences, your chances of passing this class are very slim.

Participation in Discussions & Group Work is a Must Everyone has something to contribute to the class, even if it is simply note-taking, listening intently to the person speaking, and nodding approval and recognition. You will not pass English 114B without participating! In addition, you need to do the reading and be prepared for class in order to participate effectively & pass quizzes. Arriving significantly late or leaving class early will be recorded as a fractional absence.

NO Cell Phones & Laptops Used! When students text in class, it is rude and distracting, and sends the signal that you are not paying attention. KEEP YOUR SMART PHONE ON SILENT, AND PUT AWAY, unless I ask you to use it! If I see you glancing at your phone, I will ask you to leave the room to finish your business out in the hallway. PORTFOLIO CONTENTS: Your hard-copy Portfolio will contain your 2 individual project essays plus the rough drafts and scratch outlines for these essays.In addition, you will write the Reflective Essay/Cover Letter that tells the reader how your writing has progressed this semester. You cant turn in a Portfolio (and pass the class) unless you have turned inall of the project assignments over the semester.

Student Group Presentations

Each of you will be assigned to a group of 4 or 5 students; to exercise collaborative learning skills, each group will be assigned three student-led small group presentations focused on contemporary hot topic social problems regarding identity choices, human rights, and interpersonal social relationships. In addition, online Moodle posts or Blog posts will be required in response to the in-class discussions.

Mediocre writers copy; Good writers borrow and improve.

Anonymous Newton Wannabe

Plagiarism is academic dishonesty and a serious offense. We all borrow ideas from others; even Isaac Newton admitted he got the ideas for his Laws of Universal Gravitation from Keplers earlier workBUT HE READILY ACKNOWLEDGED HIS SOURCES. We will work on how you use effective ways of citing sources in your writingwhat our English Dept. calls MLA formatthat can help you avoid representing the words, ideas, or works of another as ones own in an academic exercise (CSUN catalog 553). Such plagiarizing will put you in the doghouse and can lead to disciplinary action up to and including expulsion from the university. Lets not do that; its much cooler to be inspired by ideas rather than cutting and pasting and stealing them. Dont pretend you invented the wheel; we want you to find more uses FOR the wheel.

DID YOU KNOW? In 1816, 89 yrs.

after his death, a tooth of Newtons was sold at auction for $35,700.

Visual Rhetoric:Graphic Novel& Films

The unexamined life is not worth living. Socrates
Sometimes, pictures speak louder than words. This semester you will respond to and write about a variety of texts including the hybrid form of the graphic novel, and the visual forms of films, web sites, and documentaries. The graphic novel Persepolis has rich images and ideas about gender-related issues and self-discovery! You will also respond to the provocative and funny film Kaboom and analyze what it has to tell us about human sexual behaviors and gender orientation choices. What are the secrets to building a more perfect union between various multi-gendered persons?

Course Topics 114B

What factors influence individual & community identities?

Social Values Reflected in Public & Private Spaces

How do public and private spaces both reflect and shape our communitys social values and identity? We will de-familiarize our usual observations of various environments such as sacred spaces, urban city landscape sprawl, residential homes, trash handling landfills, and shopping centers to gain a fresh perspective of the ideological values reflected in these spaces.

Citizen Identities, Crime & Punishment, Security

Which identities will be allowed to participate in your community activities? We will debate controversial issues related to immigration reform, the prison system (death penalty), and community security (school gun control).

Sexual Expression & Interpersonal Power Dynamics

How does sexual behavior define our identities? What social values decide what is considered acceptable vs. taboo sexual behaviors? How do we determine what is offensive and obscene? What is the power-laden relationship behind sexual expressionsobjectification or empowerment?

Identity as Performative Text: Multi-Gender Equality

What fascinating choices do modern individuals make in defining and writing the text of their gendered identities? Is gender identity a social construction or biologically determined? Given the broad spectrum of LGBTIQ persons, should these individuals have the same social rights as normatively gendered persons (such as legalized marriage and survivorship rights)?

Internet & Social Medias Effects on Human Behaviors

How have our online experiences shaped our identities and social values? What effect does web surfing have on our attention span and mental abilities? How does our increasing connectedness to the web impact issues related to our right of privacy, our freedom for self-expression, our personal security (dangers of cyber-bullying), and our sense of decision making?

MR. KUBLERS ENGL 114B CLASS

S P R I N G 2014

CSUN Learning Resources!

Learning Resource Center:http://www.csun.edu/lrc/ Academic Advisement: http://catalog.csun.edu/about/academic-advisement/ University Counseling Services: http://www.csun.edu/counseling/ The Career Center: http://www.csun.edu/career/students/ Center on Disabilities: http://www.csun.edu/dres

Email Protocol and Address

john.kubler.665@my.csun.edu
I acknowledge all email messages within 48 hours.

NOTES