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Sabina Grogan's EWRT 1AFall 2006, Room MQ-4 Sabina Grogan
Fridays, 7:45-12:20 e-mail: sabinajay@earthlink.net
English Writing 1A
Texts/Required Class Materials
Six Questions of Socrates, Christopher Phillips
The St. Martin’s Guide to Writing, 7th Ed., Axelrod/Cooper
Notebook, portable dictionary, mac-compatible diskette
Course Description and Objectives
“The unexamined life is not worth living” Socrates famously said, and also “the proper study of mankind is man.” In the 2400 or so years since he said these words, countless writers have taken up his challenge. As a student in this class, you will be doing this too. You will examine your own life, your beliefs, and the assumptions upon which those beliefs are founded. This section of English Writing 1A is focussed on “the examined life.”
To that end, in the class’s first half we will be reading a range of short essays that chronicle aspects of their writers’ early lives, the years from childhood to young adulthood. We will also be writing two such essays, considering some of the experiences and the people who have helped to shape us. In the class’s second half, we will be reading Six Questions of Socrates by Christopher Phillips. Phillips travels the world to engage in discussions with groups of people from different cultural backgrounds on six of the questions Socrates originally posed: questions like “what is virtue? What is courage? What is good?” As we read through the book’s different sections we will have some similar discussions in class ourselves, to get us thinking about our own beliefs. We will also be seeing three strong, lively films that will provide a common reference for our discussions, and will help us further test our own basic assumptions. The three films are Spike Lee’s “Do the Right Thing,” Ang Lee’s “The Wedding Banquet” and Clint Eastwood’s “The Unforgiven.” Your writing in this second half of class will be focussed on aspects of the characters and situations in these films, as they apply to the “Six Questions.” These later essays take a more analytical than expressive approach, but will still involve, in part, exploring and defending your own personal beliefs.
By the end of this quarter you will know more about expressive, persuasive and analytical writing, and you will probably know more about yourself. You will also be better equipped to understand, if not agree with, ways of looking at the world that are not in accordance with your own. Finally (and not to be sneezed at), you will be able to throw Socrates’s name into a conversation with real confidence, even swagger!
Class Requirements:
Attendance: Regular attendance is particularly necessary to do well in this class. We meet only once a week, and two of those weeks are interrupted by vacation days falling on Friday. For that reason, only one unexcused absence is allowed.
Writing Assignments and Grading: Grades will be based on both your level of effort and on the quality of your work in the following areas.
Journals: 20%. A reading and response journal where ideas are developed for the longer essays. The journals are not summaries of the reading. In this class, journal entries are considered, detailed responses to the specific questions given in the class assignment listings. Journals should be typed.
Participation: 10%. Participation in peer group and class discussion. (Attendance will also be factored in.)
Reading quizzes: 10%. A quiz will be given after every reading assignment, to make sure you are keeping up. The quiz questions will be fairly easy if you have done the reading. Note: the quiz will be given right at the start of class. You need to be here when class begins to take the quiz.
Essays: 60%
Two memoir essays, worth 10% and 15% (about 3-4 and 5-6 pages)
Two in-class (analytical) essays, each worth 10%
One out of class analytical essay, worth 15% (about 5-6 pages)
Other Information:
Revisions: Out-of-class essays can be revised once in response to instructor comments, provided you received a grade of “B” or below on your first attempt. Revisions must be turned in one week after the essay is initially returned to you.
Late Assignments: Late essays are only acceptable by prior arrangement -- e-mail me to discuss your situation. Homework can be turned in a maximum of one class period late. Reading quizzes cannot be made up if you arrive late to the class.
Contacting me: Contact me via e-mail and I will respond within one day. Feel free to e-mail me with questions on the reading or assignments, or to let me know what’s going on if you miss a class. I will also contact you by e-mail -- a current account is a class requirement. (They are available free through the computer lab.) My office times are on Monday and Wednesday mornings, 10:15-10:45 in the library, which may not be convenient for students in this class. However, I can also arrange to meet with you during our class break.
Final Exam: Friday, December 15, 7:00-9:00 a.m.
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