Interboro Institute

Course Number: En 102

Course Name: English Composition II

Prerequisites and Entrance Competencies

• Successful completion of EN101 – English Composition I.

• Correct use of grammar, punctuation, and spelling.

• Proficiency in writing coherent, concise paragraphs that demonstrate sound organizational patterns.

• Knowledge of various rhetorical forms; ability to employ these forms in writing essays.

• Proficiency in basic methods of research and research-based writing.

Course Description

This course is designed to provide a continuation of the techniques learned in EN101, further developing the skills of essay writing previously taught, and taking the essay to a more complex, intellectually sophisticated level of development.  To further this end, emphasis will be placed throughout the course, particularly at the beginning, on critical thinking in general and proper modes of logic.  The ability to discern fallacies of logic, to distinguish between fact and opinion, will be rigorously applied to the art of the essay as well as the art of reading.  Writing with careful thought and planning beforehand will be at the heart of EN102.  Accompanying this will be the reinforcement of the student's mastery of grammatical structure, word usage, sentence variety, parallelism, revision skills, proofreading, and overall language awareness.  The student is expected to develop greater facility in writing well-organized, in-depth essays and complete the research and analysis necessary for a coherent research paper of 6-8 pages in length.

Credits

This course is equivalent to three (3) semester hours.

Goals and Objectives

• To understand and produce examples of various rhetorical forms: argument, definition, cause and effect, and classification.

• To expand mastery of grammar, punctuation, spelling, vocabulary, and word usage.

• To expand familiarity with research techniques, along with MLA conventions of academic composition.

• To examine the ways in which reading informs and supports writing.

• To discuss, critique, and engage the ideas of others – whether authors or classmates.

• To exercise critical thinking abilities.

Requirements

• Extensive reading from the textbook and other sources.

• Three short essays of at least five paragraphs.

• One original, in-depth research paper of at least six pages employing MLA conventions.

• Timely completion of all homework assignments.

• Active and well-prepared participation in classroom activities, including in-class writing, peer critiques, and group discussions.

• Four in class quizzes on grammar and language usage.

• Midterm examination.

• Final Examination.

Exit Competencies

• Advanced ability in composition of essays, including facility with grammar, structure, and rhetorical strategies.

• Proficiency in advanced research, along with mastery of MLA conventions.

• Ability to engage in dialogue with the ideas of others, while advancing one’s own ideas.

Attendance

Attendance in this course is mandatory. More than three unexcused absences may negatively affect your final grade. Frequent lateness may likewise affect your grade.

Grading Criteria

• Homework/quizzes/participation          10%

• Short essays                                     30%

• Research paper                                  20%

• Midterm examination                          20%

• Final examination                               20%

Time Distribution

Three contact hours per week; it is recommended that for every contact hour students spend two hours studying outside of class.

Text

Gilyard, Keith, Deborah H. Holdstein, and Charles I. Schuster, eds.  Rhetorical Choices: A Reader for Writers. New York: Penguin Academics, 2004.ISBN: 0-321-05494-6.

Hacker, Diana.  A Writer’s Reference.  5^th ed.  Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2003.  ISBN:  0-312-41262-2.

PLAGIARISM

Plagiarism is the replication of another individual’s work without attributing credit. It happens in the classroom more often than you might think. In this course, your writing is expected to be your own. Theft of intellectual property is unethical, unlawful, and, in your college work, grounds for failure.
Interboro Institute

EN102 – English Composition II

Course Outline *

  
Week 1: Introduction to the course; diagnostic writing sample; discussion of importance and purpose in writing (Chapter 1). 

Week 2: Grammar review using Writer’s Reference and emphasizing problem areas from the diagnostic writing sample; introduction to argument (Chapter 10).

Week 3: Readings from argumentative selections (Chapter 10); lesson on fallacies (Writer’s Reference pg. 46-52); research paper topics assigned. 

Week 4: Introduction to the research paper (Writer’s Reference pg. 295-325).   

Week 5: Composing and Revising (Writer’s Reference pg. 3-43); introduction to MLA (Writer’s Reference pg.329-376).   

Week 6: MLA (Writer’s Reference pg.329-376).   

Week 7: Research papers due; introduction to the definition essay (Chapter 4); definition essay assigned; review for midterm exam. 

Week 8: MIDTERM EXAM; readings from definition selections (Chapter 4). 

Week 9: Further reading from definition selections (Chapter 4); introduction to the classification essay (Chapter 6). 

Week 10: Definition essay due; readings from classification sections (Chapter 6); classification essay assigned. 

Week 11: Further readings from classification selections (Chapter 6); introduction to cause and effect essay (Chapter 9). 

Week 12: Classification essay due; readings from cause and effect selections (Chapter 9); cause and effect essay assigned. 

Week 13: Further readings from cause and effect selections (Chapter 9); if time permits, an introduction to writing essays on literature (terms and genres). 

Week 14: Review for final exam; cause and effect essay due. 

Week 15: FINAL EXAM 

Supplementary Sources for Study and Research

Recommended Reading:

            Novels

• The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald

• Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain

• A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens

• Billy Budd, Herman Melville

• The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, Carson McCullers

• Ethan Fromm, Edith Wharton

• The Confessions of Nat Turner, William Styron

• Go Tell It on the Mountain, James Baldwin

• Another Country, James Baldwin

• Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck

• The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck

• Wuthering Heights, Emily Bronte

• The Prince of Tides, Pat Conroy

• The Great Santini, Pat Conroy

• Lords of Discipline, Pat Conroy

• One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Ken Kesey

• Native Son, Richard Wright

• The Invisible Man, Ralph Ellison

• 1984, George Orwell

• Brave New World, Aldous Huxley

• Waiting to Exhale, Terry McMillan

• Frankenstein, Mary Shelley

• The Red Badge of Courage, Stephen Crane

• Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston

• House on Mango Street, Sandra Cisneros

Biography/Autobiography/Memoir

• Parallel Time: Growing Up in Black and White, Brent Staples

• The Autobiography of Malcolm X

• To Be Young, Gifted and Black, Lorraine Hansberry

• Kaffir Boy:  The True Story of a Black Youth’s Coming of Age in Apartheid South Africa, Mark Methabane

• Are You Somebody? The Accidental Memoir of a Dublin Woman, Nuala O’Fanlain

• A Girl Named Zippy, Haven Kimmel

• Muhammad Ali:  The World’s Champion, John Tessitore

• Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Frederick Douglas

• Black Like Me, John H. Griffin

• China Boy, Gus Lee

Short Stories

• Gorilla, My Love, Toni Cade Bambara

• Drown, Juno Diaz

• Bartleby, Herman Melville

• Short Stories, Edgar Allan Poe

Dictionaries, Style Manuals, Grammar Handbooks, Editing Resources

• Apostrophe Protection Society: http://www.apostrophe.fsnet.co.uk. A good-natured site that promotes proper use of the apostrophe.

• Bartelby.com: Great Books Online: http://www.bartleby.com. Bartleby.com publishes thousands of free online classics of reference, literature and nonfiction.

• DeVry Online Writing: http://www.devry-phx.edu/lrnresrc/dowsc. The DeVry Online Writing Support Center offers a variety of links to writing-related resources.

• Dictionary.com: http://www.dictionary.com. Dictionary.com allows you to search multiple dictionaries and references at the same time.

• Encyclopedia Britannica http://brittanica.com.

• If you have a grammar question for which you can't find an answer, try one of the grammar hotlines listed in the Grammar Hotline Directory: http://www.tc.cc.va.us/writcent/gh/hotlinol.htm. Services are listed by state and include phone and e-mail information.  

• Infoplease http://www.infoplease.com. Infoplease has a complete encyclopedia, dictionary, and almanacs for research as well as information organized by subject matter.

• ITools: http://www.itools.com/lang. Look up words in dictionaries and thesauruses. Translate words, phrases, documents and web pages to other languages.  Everything language-related in one place.

• Merriam Webster Dictionary: http://www.m-w.com/dictionary. The complete Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary and Thesaurus online -- free and searchable with definitions and audio pronunciations.  You can also read the Word of the Day, play Word Games, and purchase books and CDs.

• Online Dictionaries: http://www.yourdictionary.com.

• Online Dictionaries has a list of biographical info at http://s9.com/biography.

• Ask Oxford:  http://www.askoxford.com. Ask Oxford is a very comprehensive site produced by the editors of the Oxford English Dictionary that has answers to questions on English grammar, spelling, and usage and access to searchable dictionaries.

• Roget's Thesaurus: http://humanities.uchicago.edu/forms_unrest/ROGET.html.

• William Strunk's original version of the Elements of Style, (later made famous by E. B. White) is available courtesy of the Bartleby project: http://www.bartleby.com/141/index.html.  

• WebGrammar: http://www.webgrammar.com. Web Grammar is a site devoted to grammar.

• Writer's Guide:  The University of Victoria: http://www.clearcf.uvic.ca/writersguide/welcome.html. Writer's Guide offers a hypertextual set of information relating to writing. This site is of special interest to writers in first-year composition.

Library Research (Your local library has a searchable online database)

• The New York Public Library: http://nypl.org. The New York Public Libraries include Manhattan, the Bronx, and Staten Island.

• Brooklyn Public Library: http://www.brooklynpubliclibrary.org.  

• Queens Borough Public Library: http://www.queenslibrary.org.

• Modern Language Association:  http://www.mla.org. Click “MLA Style,” then “Frequently Asked Questions” for documenting sources

Online Research

• The American Civil Liberties Union: http://www.aclu.org. The ACLU takes a stand on controversial American issues. Visit this site if you're writing an argumentative essay on topics such as the death penalty, abortion, police brutality, and equal rights.

• The Library of Congress is the nation's oldest federal cultural institution, and it serves as the research arm of Congress. It is also the largest library in the world, with more than 120 million items on approximately 530 miles of bookshelves. The collections include more than 18 million books, 2.5 million recordings, 12 million photographs, 4.5 million maps, and 54 million manuscripts. http://www.loc.gov.

• Public Broadcasting System: http://www.pbs.org. Click the 'explore' button and choose your topic. This is a great place to begin research.

• Questia offers tips for writing a research paper: http://www.questia.com/howto/step1.html.

• Voice of the Shuttle: http://vos.ucsb.edu/index.asp. Started in 1994 as a suite of static Web pages, VoS has now been rebuilt as a database that serves content dynamically on the Web. Users gain greater flexibility in viewing and searching, while editors are able to work more efficiently and flexibly.  VoS is a wonderful research site.