Moreno Valley College, Department of Communications

ENGL1A: English Composition

Spring 2017

Instructor: Jos Alfaro Lecture: MW 6:10 PM-

8:40 PM
Email: jose.alfaro@rccd.edu Location: PSC 10
________________________________________________________________________

The Dangerous Uses of Language

Oppressive language does more than represent violence; it is

violence; does more than represent the limits of knowledge; it limits
knowledge. -Toni Morrison (Nobel lecture, 1993)

English 1A focuses on developing your basic writing skills and your

proficiency with the essay format to prepare you for college level
writing assignments. You will learn to read critically, think analytically,
and write with rhetorical awareness of a particular writing situation.
You will become familiar with the composition process, including
invention, planning, drafting, revising, proofreading, and editing. You
will also perform research and learn how to appropriately document
sources.

Course Theme: Language affects us, dangerously. We can think of

danger here in two ways. On the one hand language can be
understood as posing a violent threat, depending on who is using it
and how it is being used; on the other, we can think about how we can
use language defiantly, dangerously, to actively resist the forms of
language that do violence on us. In our current moment, and for the
purposes of this course, we can think of how political language
shapes our personal lives in ways that can also put us in danger. In
this particular section of English 1A, we will focus on how we shape
language and how it shapes us: how we collectively hold language
together. In other words, we will think about writing and language
and its impact in our lives and our bodies beyond the English
classroom. Doing so will require that we situate racial, sexual,
gendered, and classed experiences and their relationships to ones
writing, ones world. In so doing, we will consider the territories,
identities, and social relationships that come with thinking about the
dangerous language we use.

Key Inquiry Questions:

-How does language empower or disempower? When does language

become violent, dangerous, and/or oppressive?
-What literacies/languages are of value to you? Other than writing,
what other literacies do you carry with you?

-How does language contain or limit our bodies based on race, gender,
class, and sexuality?

-What language might require us to bind together collectively despite

our differences?

-How do we resist the language of the oppressor? Is silence a form

of resistance?

REQUIRED TEXTS

Gonzlez, Rigoberto. Butterfly Boy: Memories of a Chicano

Mariposa. Madison: The University of Wisconsin Press. 2006

Lorde, Audre. Zami: A New Spelling of My Name. New York:

Crossing Press. 1982.

ATTENDANCE

Your success in this course depends on regular attendance. This

is a writers workshop that requires your presence and
constructive participation, and many of the in-class activities
cannot be made up. Attendance will be taken daily, and
absences, late arrivals, and early departures will be documented
and will ultimately affect your ability to pass the course. I may
or may not give a pop quiz on any given day. I also may or may
not have baked chocolate chip cookies for everyone on that day,
and if you dont show up you wont get one.

Furthermore, students who miss more than two classes

will automatically drop one letter grade and will find the
course very difficult to pass. Please consider that
absences will not only affect your grade, but everyone will
miss you terribly. If there is an emergency, however,
please contact me ASAP via email.

PREPARATION

This is a discussion course. You will be expected to come to

class having read the assigned material, and be prepared to
engage with the text(s). The best way to do this is to take notes
as you read the assignment. Writing down thoughts, questions,
 reactions can serve as a reference for class discussion. These
notes will not be collected, but that doesnt mean they wont
prove useful when you think about paper writings. Moreover,
always bring the text to class.

CLASS PARTICIPATION

If showing up to class is physical attendance, we can think of

class participation as mental attendance. Class participation
does not always mean speaking aloud. Attentive and engaged
listening is a form of participation as well.

TECHNOLOGY POLICY

Because you are expected to be fully present (mentally as well

as physically) in each class, you must store cell phones and
laptops away for the entire period. No exceptions. If I see or
hear a phone, it will impact your participation score for the day
and you may be asked to leave. If you have a special need for
technological assistance in the classroom, please see the
Student Special Services policy below.

Moreover, you are expected to bring your required reading, in

print, everyday to class. Students who fail to bring material and
texts will also lose participation points.
STUDENTS REQUIRING SPECIAL SERVICES

If you have a physical, psychiatric, emotional, medical, or

learning disability that may impact your ability to carry out
assigned coursework, I urge you to contact me. The Disability
Support Services (DSS) is available to facilitate the reasonable
accommodations process. The DSS is located in the Library 230
and can be reached by telephone (voice/TTY 951-6138) or by
email (dss@mvc.edu).

EMAIL ETIQUITTE

We will contact each other through email, so be sure to check

your student email account daily. Email is the primary tool I
will use to contact you, and also the best way to contact me. I
welcome email questions and I will try to answer them promptly.
I generally respond within 24 hours. Please note however that
email can be unreliable. Additionally, if you email me right
before class, I will most likely be unable to read your message
until after class. Furthermore, I ask that you do not email me
the night before a paper is due with questions that show your
 lack of attention during class (for example: What is this paper
about?).

CLASSROOM CONDUCT

You will be responsible for peer critiques during class, which

means that you will respond to the work of other students and
offer meaningful feedback to help them make their work as
effective as possible. I remind you that we are a diverse
academic community, representing different faiths, lifestyles,
ethnicities, sexualities, and cultures. In addition, we will be
discussing controversial issues issues that typically elicit
strong opinions, so it is especially important that you be
tolerant, respectful, and considerate of your fellow classmates
during any discussions or essay workshops. Students who
engage in behavior that is disruptive or disrespectful to other
students or myself will be asked to leave the class.

PLAGARISM AND ACADEMIC HONESTY

The word plagiarism comes from the Latin plagiarius, or

kidnapper. Monitoring plagiarism is an ugly but necessary
part of academic life. The simple answer is: dont do it.
Plagiarism, as defined by MVC, is the act of using ideas or work
of another person or persons as if they were ones own without
giving proper credit to the source. Acknowledgement of an
original author or source must be made through appropriate
references; i.e., quotation marks, footnotes, or commentary.
Examples of plagiarism include, but are not limited to the
following: the submission of a work, either in part or in whole
completed by another; failure to give credit for ideas,
statements, facts or conclusions which rightfully belong to
another; failure to use quotation marks when quoting directly
from another, whether it be a paragraph, a sentence, or even a
part thereof; close and lengthy paraphrasing of anothers
writing without credit or originality; use of anothers project or
programs or part thereof without giving credit. See your student
handbook.

Plagiarism will result in an automatic fail for the assignment.

Always ask if you are concerned about plagiarism. Bottom line,
it takes less energy to do your own work than plagiarize and
attempt to avoid getting caught. If you have any questions about
this, or dont understand what the big deal is, please speak up!

GENERAL COUSEWORK EXPECTATIONS

 Aside from essays, you will be expected to complete all assigned
reading and small assignments in preparation for each class.
Failure to complete readings or assignments may result in an
inability to participate in class, which will impact your overall
grade. In particular, we will hold workshop days in which
outside preparation is necessary for your admittance to class.
Small assignments cannot be made up after their due dates.
Keep in mind that small essay preparation assignments will also
affect your final essay grade.

FINAL PROJECT
This project has three components, which I describe below:

1. MONOLOGUE SCRIPT (50 points): You will write a 2-3-page

typed, double-spaced monologue from the perspective of ONE
of the authors or characters we have read in the class. You should
discuss what you think your author would have learned this term if
she had been a student in English 1A. What insights, connections,
and/or questions would your chosen theorist have? You may (in
fact, you should) be creative, but your choices in terms of content
and language should be informed by your character or authors
ideology and writing style. You should include at least two
direct quotations from a text by your theorist and at least 4
direct quotations from 4 other texts we have read this
semester.

2. MONOLOGUE PERFORMANCE (100 points): You will perform your

monologue for the rest of the class (3-5 minutes). You need not
memorize your monologue, but you should be very comfortable
with your lines. Feel free to bring props, costumes, or other visual
aids that might enhance your performance.

3. SHORT REFLECTION (50 points): You will write a 2-page

reflection on the experience of writing your monologue. Some
questions to consider are: What were the challenges of this
project? What did you learn from this project? How did it help you
to review what you have learned in 1A? How did it enhance your
understanding of the authors and ideas studied this term? How
was this project a more/less/equally productive way of wrapping up
the quarter than a final exam or a final paper would have been?
Your assignment should be free from typographical, spelling,
grammatical, and usage errors, and you should write in unified and
coherent paragraphs.

Final Projects are DUE on the last 3 days of class: 5/22, 5/24,
and 5/31. You must submit the written monologue and short
reflection on the day of your presentation. I will distribute the
presentation calendar at least four weeks in advance.

LATE ESSAY ASSIGNMENTS

All final essays must be submitted online by the start of class on

the due date in addition to bringing a hard copy to class. I
accept no late work. If you have a personal emergency or other
extenuating circumstances that prevent you from finishing your
assignment on time or turning in your essay as scheduled, email
or see me as soon as possible, before the due deadline, so we
can discuss your situation.

GRADING Grading Scale

Attendance and Participation: Passing Failing
100 pts 100%-93% A 72.9%-70% C-
2-Minute Presentation: 50 92.9%-90% A- 69.9%-67% D+
89.9%-87% B+ 66.9%-63% D
Group Presentation: 100 pts 86.9%-83% B 62.9%-60% D-
Pop Quizzes: 50 Points 82.9%-80% B- 59.9%-0% F
4 Discussion Questions: = 100 79.9%-77% C+
76.9%-73% C
pts (25each)
Paper 1: 100 pts
Paper 2: 100 pts
Paper 3: 200 pts
Final Monologue: 200 pts
TOTAL POSSIBLE: 1000 pts

This class requires that you write ALL 3 papers. You will also be
required to make a Final Presentation. Not doing one of these
results in an automatic fail.

Note: This syllabus AND schedule is subject to change *

COURSE SCHEDULE

HOW TO READ THE SCHEDULE: Each day the course meets is

listed below. The information listed for that day tells you what reading
assignments (from your text materials) you will be responsible for
having read before the class session. For example, when you attend
class on Wednesday, 2/15, of Week 1, I will expect you to have read all
of Toni Morrisons Nobel Lecture. If a reading is posted online, I will
have expected you to have printed and brought the reading to class.
Coming to class unprepared will result in a lower participation grade.
Additionally, notice that discussion questions, drafts, essays, and other
projects are bolded on the date that they are due.

Language as Violence

Week 1

M 2/13: Introductions & Syllabus & Anne Lammott, Shitty First

Drafts

W 2/15: Toni Morrison, Nobel Lecture

Week 2

M 2/20: HOLIDAY

W 2/22: Richard Rodriguez, Aria

Amy Tan, Mother Tongue
DISCUSSION QUESTION #1

Week 3

M 2/27: Gloria Anzalda, How to Tame a Wild Tongue

GROUP DISCUSSION

W 3/1: Gloria Naylor, The Meanings of a Word, James Baldwin,

Who Is the N*
Peer Review Draft #1

Language as Coalition

Week 4

M 3/6: Cherre Moraga, La Guera

Paper #1 Due

W3/8: Cherre Moraga, My Brothers Sex Was White, Mine

Brown & Alvarez
DISCUSSION QUESTION #2

Week 5

M 3/13: Butterfly Boy 3-54

W 3/15: Butterfly Boy pages 55-99
GROUP DISCUSSION

Week 6

M 3/20: Butterfly Boy pages 100-161

W 3/22: Butterfly Boy finish

Peer Review Draft #2 Due

Language as Belonging

Week 7

M 3/27: Borderlands/La Frontera Intro

Final Paper #2 Due

W 3/29: James Baldwin, On America

Week 8

M 4/3: Anzalda, Movimientos de Rebelda & Judy Brady,

I Want a Wife
GROUP DISCUSSION

W 4/5: Herman Melville, excerpt from Moby-Dick

DISCUSSION QUESTION #3

Week 9 No Classes Spring Break

Week 10

M 4/17: Jos Muoz, Pedro Zamora, Disidentifications

La Mission

W 4/19: Eve Sedgwick, How to Bring Your Kids Up Gay

Peer Review Draft #3 Due

Language as Resistance

Week 11

M 4/24: Audre Lorde, The Masters Tools

Paper #3 Due
W 4/26: Paulo Fiero, Pedagogy of the Oppressed & TED TALK:
Schools Kill Creativity

Week 12

M 5/1: Audre Lorde, Poetry Is not a Luxury & The Uses

of Anger
DISCUSSION QUESTION #4

W 5/3: Zami, Acknowledgements-Chapter 7

GROUP DISCUSSION

Week 13

M 5/8: Zami, Chapters 8-15

W 5/10: Zami, Chapters 16-22

GROUP DISCUSSION

Week 14

M 5/15: Zami, Lorde Chapters 23-26

W 5/17: Zami, finish & The Danger of a Single Story

Week 15

M 5/22: Final Presentations

W 5/24: Final Presentations

Week 16

M 5/29: HOLIDAY

W 5/31: Final Presentations