English 1012 MW12H                                                                    Prof. Moser
Spring 2018                                                                                                       4232B
Office hours: W: 3-4, and by appt.
Course website: academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/english/moser

Course Description:

Course description:
"Writing intensive seminar focusing on a topic chosen by the instructor. Provides students with an opportunity to explore a particular subject in depth and further explore skills of critical thinking, research techniques, and clear expression necessary for academic writing."-Brooklyn College Bulletin

"Special" is the theme for this course. We will read works about being special---about prodigies, dwarves, criminals, schizophrenics, the deaf, the disabled, the autistic, to name a few---from a variety of genres: essays, journalism, creative non-fiction and novels. The final project for this course is an original research paper, in MLA format, that addresses the theme of the course (even loosely).

Course objectives:
By the end of the course, students will be able to:
write a formal, coherent essay in standard academic English that supports its argument with research.
understand and implement the components of research (including identifying, annotating, incorporating, and citing sources).
write clearly and imaginatively, in a variety of forms and for a variety of purposes and audiences.
understand the ethics of research and writing, including the proper citation, and integration, of source materials into their work and the meaning and consequences of plagiarism.
use appropriate conventions of language, including correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation
use the library and its databases.


Course requirements:
This is a seminar in academic writing and your classmates and I depend on your participation to make this class interesting. Don't hesitate to express your opinions, your confusion, your questions.
You are allowed 3 absences. Except in extraordinary circumstances, any absences beyond 3 will result in a lowered grade.
Two latenesses=one absences
All work is due when assigned. If you are absent from class on the day that a paper is due, you must email that paper by midnight. Late papers will lose one letter grade for each day late (i.e, a B will become a B-); no paper will be accepted after one week.
All papers will be revised and all revisions are due at the next class meeting.
Consult the class website for all updates on readings, assignments, meetings.

Required texts:
Jamison, Leslie, The Empathy Exams. Mn: Graywolf,, 2014.
Solomon, Andrew. Far From the Tree. NY: Scribner, 2013
Capote, Truman, In Cold Blood. NY: Vintage, 2012.
Craft of Research, pdf available on this site.

Grading
Attendance, participation, quizzes: 20%
Essay 1: 10%
Essay 2: 15%
Final research paper: 55% (5% proposal; 5% annotated bibliography; 5%
presentation; 15% first draft; 25% final draft)

The passing grade for English 1012 is A through C-. Students may take English 1012 two times. Excessive absence, failure to complete assignments, or plagiarism may result in a grade of F. A student who has come to class and completed all the class requirements but whose work is not yet at a passing level, may receive a grade of NC (no credit but also no penalty). Students who receive a grade of NC or F must repeat the class.

Submission of Essays
Essays must be submitted as hard copies in class on the day they are due.

Electronic Devices
Please bring physical copies of texts to class. If you absolutely must, for whatever reason, use an electronic device to read the materials, please speak with me. In no case is it acceptable to read the texts on a phone.
.
Cell Phones: Cell phones must be silenced and put away. If you need to have your phone out for a medical or family emergency, please let me know before class. Otherwise, if you are using your phone in any way during class time, I may ask you to leave class and mark you absent for that day.

Plagiarism
Brooklyn College (along with your professor) takes plagiarism very seriously. If you plagiarize, you will be reported to the Committee on Academic Integrity, receive an F for the paper and may receive an F for the course.
Below is Brooklyn College’s policy:
"The faculty and administration of Brooklyn College support an environment free from cheating and plagiarism. Each student is responsible for being aware of what constitutes cheating and plagiarism and for avoiding both. The complete text of the CUNY Academic Integrity Policy and the Brooklyn College procedure for implementing that policy can be found at this site: http://www.brooklyn.cuny.edu/bc/policies. If a faculty member suspects a violation of academic integrity and, upon investigation, confirms that violation, or if the student admits the violation, the faculty member MUST report the violation."

 

Tentative schedule:


Monday, Jan. 29
Introduction
In-class diagnostic essay
For Wednesday: Paul Bloom, "Against Empathy" http://www.bostonreview.net/forum/paul-bloom-against-empathy


Wednesday, Jan. 31
In class: discuss Bloom; watch TED talk (Baron Cohen)
For next class: Jamison, The Empathy Exams, 1-26.


Monday, Feb. 5
In class: Discuss Jamison, 1-26.
For next class:
Read Jamison, "In Defense of Saccharin(e), 111-131.
Read "Should Writers Avoid Sentimentality?" The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/28/books/review/should-writers-avoid-sentimentality.html

Wednesday, Feb. 7:
Discuss "In Defense of Saccharine"; NY Times articles
Practice: Summarizing, Paraphrasing, Quoting, Craft of Research handout

For Wednesday: Solomon, "Son,"1-47

Monday, Feb. 12: Lincoln's Birthday: NO CLASSES

Due Wednesday, Feb 21: Paper 1, first draft.
Leslie Jamison writes, "If I could choose one item from my entire apartment, what would I disown?" (121)
In a 3-page paper (1" margins, double-spaced, 12 pt font), answer the question she poses.
Requirements:
1. You must use at least two of the following approaches:
Definition
Historical background
Personal anecdote

2. Two scholarly secondary sources (one can easily be a dictionary for the definition; online journals; books; interviews, etc)

3. Style: At least two methods of incorporating quotes (see p 208-9 in Craft of Research)
4. Be sure you have a works cited section, in MLA format, at the end of the paper.

Wednesday, Feb 14:
Discuss Solomon, "Son," 1-47; Discussion leader: David B.
For Tuesday, Feb. 20: Read Solomon, "Autism" 221-294

Monday, Feb. 19: Washington's Birthday, NO CLASSES-

 

Tuesday, Feb 20 (conversion day)-Wednesday, Feb. 21:
Discuss "Autism"
Craft of Research handout (Mon., Feb 26: p. 33-48)
Discussion leader: 2/20
Discussion leader: 2/21, Susan
 
Monday, March 5:  Paper 1, second draft due
Wednesday, Feb.28
 Discuss "Deaf."  Discussion leader: Salvatore
Craft of research handout; workshop on quoting, summarizing, paraphrasing

Wednesday: Craft of Research handout (60-84)

Monday, March 5-Wednesday, March 7:
"Prodigies," 405-476, Solomon 
Discussion leader: George

Wednesday: Craft of Research, p. 33-48;188-196 

Monday, March 12: Meet in Library - Room 120
For next class: read Agee excerpt from Let Us Now Praise Famous Men.
Read: "Just a half-inch beyond the surface...p. 51-69, text page number (74-92 on pdf counter); Money, 116-121 (138-144 pdf); House exterior, 138- 142 (161-165 pdf);
Beds, 174-176 (197-199 pdf); Three Dresses, 276-286 (299-309 pdf); Work, 319-325 (342-348 pdf).
Look at Walker Evans' photographs at this cite: Scroll DOWN to see the photos

Wednesday, Mar 14:

Background on Agee and Walker:

Walker Evans photograph of 3 sharecroppers, Frank Tengle, Bud Fields, and Floyd Burroughs, Alabama, Summer 1936

Let Us Now Praise Famous Men grew out of an assignment that Agee and Evans accepted in 1936 to produce a Fortune article on the conditions among sharecropper families in the American South during the "Dust Bowl". It was the time of U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt's "New Deal" programs designed to help the poorest segments of the society. Agee and Evans spent eight weeks that summer researching their assignment, mainly among three white sharecropping families mired in desperate poverty. They returned with Evans' portfolio of stark images—of families with gaunt faces, adults and children huddled in bare shacks before dusty yards in the Depression-era nowhere of the deep south—and Agee's detailed notes.

As he remarks in the book's preface, the original assignment was to produce a "photographic and verbal record of the daily living and environment of an average white family of tenant farmers". However, as the Literary Encyclopedia points out, "Agee ultimately conceived of the project as a work of several volumes to be entitled Three Tenant Families, though only the first volume, Let Us Now Praise Famous Men, was ever written". Agee considered that the larger work, though based in journalism, would be "an independent inquiry into certain normal predicaments of human divinity". Wikipedia

Note:  The "I' in the narrative is Agee; the "we" refers to Agee and Walker

Discuss Agee excerpt (online) and Evans (photographs)
For next class: Jamison,"Pain Tours I and II", 79-90; 151-160
Discussion leader:

Monday, Mar. 19:
Discuss Jamison, Agee, Walker
Grammar and writing workshop;
Craft of Research, 129-131, 141-154 (acknowledgments)
Discussion leader:

Wed., Mar 21  SNOW DAY; NO CLASSES

 

Monday, March 26:
IN CLASS: citation workshop
Write three sentences that acknowledge a counter argument to Jamison's assertion that "these are gifts for the miners, but really, of course, they are gifts for the givers" (80). Each of your three sentences must use a different rhetorical technique to introduce the counterargument (Craft of Research, 149-151)
 

Wednesday, March 28
"Consider the Lobster," David Foster Wallace
Cut and paste the link: http://www.gourmet.com/magazine/2000s/2004/08/consider_the_lobster.html
Craft of Research, 110-131
Discussion leader: Arie

 

SPRING BREAK: MARCH 30-APRIL 8

Paper 2: first draft due Monday, April 9: (topics from Agee, Walker, Solomon, Wallace); minimum of 3 secondary sources plus the primary source. Minimum of 6 direct quotations with varying introductory techniques. All secondary sources must be scholarly sources (not Wikipedia).
Possible topics:
1. Take as a starting point Agee's description of the sharecroppers' work in the cotton fields; expand your knowledge of the meaning of work to families in this time (1930s) and place (Alabama) through research using secondary sources (at least two scholarly sources, plus the primary source).
2. Apply Jamison's definitions of "poverty tourism" to Agee's and Walker's roles in documenting the lives of the Alabama families.
3. Using "Consider the Lobster" as a model, research and write an essay in which you consider the ethics that surround an everyday food, object, or activity. You should research your chosen topic beyond what we normally know about it, as Wallace did with lobster, and discuss how knowing the topic well changes our ethical understanding of it. Can you come to a conclusion about the ethics of eating, using, or doing the thing you're writing about? Or, like Wallace, are you left with a sense of uncertainty?
4. Use any of the chapters read in Far From the Tree as a source for further research. For example, you might explore NYC Department of Education policies for mainstreaming autistic children; or look into the history of deaf education in NY; or acquire further information about the programs that are the legacy of Jae and Bill Davis; research the neurodiversity movement; advances in cochlear implants; one historical moment in the treatment of the deaf (e.g., ancient attitudes toward the deaf); .. In other words, come up with a topic that is in some way inspired by our readings in Solomon, run it by me before you begin your research, and write about something that YOU want to know more about.
5. Do a stylistic analysis of a section of either Solomon or Agee and analyze just how the author appeals to your sense of empathy (with specfic reference to Jamison's essays). Does the author escape Jamison's descrition of "saccharine," sentimental writing?

 

Monday, Apr 9:
"Schizophrenia," Solomon
Discussion leader: Roberto
Wed., Apr 5: Craft of Research, 132-140 (evidence)

 Wednesday, April 25 NOTE NEW DAY : second draft of paper due
Conferences for those who want to discuss their first drafts:
Monday, April 23:  Be sure to email to reserve a time
10......Arie....
10:15.....Michelle.......
10:30  Samantha
12:20.....Marwa..........
12:35.....Carmen...........
3:30...............
3:45.................
4:15..............
4:30...............
4:45..................

Monday, April 16-Wednesday, April 25: In Cold Blood
Read this interview with Truman Capote; cut and paste the link: http://www.nytimes.com/books/97/12/28/home/capote-interview.html
Come to class with at least one passage that you want to discuss from the novel (particularly a passage that evokes empathy)
Discussion leader: Kalliniki

Wednesday, April 18:  Class will not meet. I will not be on campus this day.

Monday-Wed, Apr 23-25
In Cold Blood, cont.
Jamison, "Lost Boys," 161-183
Discussion leader: Marwa

 Mon., April 30: Solomon, "Crime," 537-597
April 25, discussion leader: Margo, Sheila, Carmen
Craft of Research, 232-247 (introductions and conclusions)

Wednesday, May 2: Rape
Craft of Research, 248-267 (revising)
Discussion leader: Martina, Michelle, John

Monday., May 7: "Transgender"
Discussion leaders: David M, Nathaniel, Samantha, Sarah

Wednesday, May 9:  Research paper propoals due; proposal workshop. Bring 4 copies of your proposal to class:
Also bring the introduction for your paper to class (4 copies)----follow the three-part plan in Craft of Research.

Conferences: Please email me to sign up for a 15-minute conference. Available hours:
Monday, May 7: 10.......; 10:15........; 10:30.Susan........; 3:45....Crystal.....; 4:00.......; 4:15...;
Tuesday, May 8: 11...Nikki......;11:15..Samantha..11:30..Michelle.11:45..Salvatore.; 2:15: Marwa 2:30..Arie....
Wednesday, May 9: 10:15..George; 10:30..Sheila; 3:30 Margo.;
3:45 Martina.
If none of these times works for you, we can try to find another, mutually convenient time.



Email me to sign up for presentations (see below):

Friday, May 11 (by email): First draft, research paper due: This can be a work in progress, an outline, a partial draft.  You may also opt to do only one draft, due Wednesday, May 23 in my mailbox in the English dept (2308B) OR by email Thursday, May 24 by 6PM.  If you want your paper back, you must submit a stamped, self-addressed manile envelop along with the hard copy. If you do not submit an envelop, or if you submit your paper by email, you may retrieve your paper from my office in the fall. NO LATE PAPERS ACCEPTED

This is a 5-7 page academic research paper, with a Works Cited page in MLA format (that isn't included in the total page count), and at least 5 sources (this can be a combination of primary and secondary sources (interviews, film, newspaper articles, memoirs, songs) but MUST include at least 3 scholarly sources (books, scholarly articles from academic journals). Be sure to integrate quotes from primary and secondary sources into your own writing.
The paper needs to reflect the theme of our course readings---"special"---with particular attention to the appeal for empathy.  You can model your paper on Solomon's techniques, with a mix of anecdotes and research.  Or you can depend solely on research.  What you must do, in either case, is use peer-reviewed scholarly sources that you quote from, allude to, paraphrase, summarize, always documenting your work and always remaining aware of the dangers of plaigiarism.


Rubric:

English 1012 - Research Paper: There are 5 categories, each with a range from 1 (lowest) - 4 (highest). A perfect score would be 20.

1. Organization
Your essay is organized and carefully constructed, using topic sentences and transition sentences. Your essay builds your main points to a synthesizing conclusion, rather than merely repeating them.
1 2 3 4

2. Development
You develop a coherent and specific argument that does clearly more than merely summarize. Your thesis is clearly articulated and analyzed throughout the essay.
1 2 3 4


3. Evidence
Your essay uses substantial evidence to support its claims. You use MLA citation consistently and correctly.
1 2 3 4


4. Revision & Original and Critical Thought
You demonstrate your careful consideration of the assignment through your presentation of your original and complex ideas and writing. There is definite evidence of substantial revision.
1 2 3 4


5. Grammar & Mechanics, and Style
You not only write in clear prose with an appropriate level of correctness (grammar, spelling, punctuation, etc.), but your writing is also lively, well-paced, interesting, even exciting.
1 2 3 4

Scores: 4= excellent; 3=good, but needs a few revisions; 2= satisfactory, needs substantial revision ; 1= poor
Grading: A 20 - 19; A- 18 ; B+ 17 ; B 16 - 15; B- 14; C+ 13; C 11- 12; C- 10; D 9 and below
(note: half points don't get you there-for example, a 16.5 is still a B)

 The last two class sessions (May 14 and 16) will be devoted to student presentations of their final papers.
Monday, May 14 (9 presenters, 7 minutes each): Crystal, Susan, Samantha, Sarah, Margo, Salvatore, Badiola, John, Martina
Wed, May 16 (9 presenters, 7 minutes each): Nathaniel, Kalliniki, David M., Arie, Carmen, Sheila, Marwa, Roberto, Michelle

Research paper, final draft, due Wednesday, May 23 at noon in my mailbox in 2308B or by email, Thursday, May 24 by 6PM. If you want your paper back, be sure to leave a stamped, self-addressed manila envelop along with your paper. If you submit  your paper by email, or you do not include an envelop with the hard copy, you can come to my office (4232B) in the fall to retrieve your paper.




 


Plagiarism:


All cases of plagiarism will be reported to the Brooklyn College Committee on Academic Integrity. A student who plagiarizes in this class will receive a grade of F for the assignment and may receive a grade of F for the course.

 

Students with Disabilities:   In order to receive disability-related academic accommodations students must first be registered with the Center for Student Disability Services. Students who have a documented disability or suspect they may have a disability are invited to set up an appointment with the Director of the Center for Student Disability Services, Ms. Valerie Stewart-Lovell at 718-951-5538. If you have already registered with the Center for Student Disability Services, please provide me with the course accommodation form and discuss your specific accommodation with me.

Grading:

 

Passing grades range from A to C- (the lowest possible passing grade for the course). A student who has completed all the work for this course but who still needs more practice in producing competent academic English may receive a grade of NC (no credit). This grade does not penalize the student and does not count in her GPA.  A student who does not complete assignments for the course or who is excessively absent or late will receive a grade of F. Students may take the course up to three times.

 

Participation:                                                               1

                                              

 

 

 

 

Tentative Class Schedule: