Gui, Weihsin

English

The Keep

Eastern Illinois University
The Keep
Fall 2008 2008
Fall 8-15-2008
ENG 1001G-025: Composition and Language
Weihsin Gui
Eastern Illinois University
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English 1001 G Section 025 
"Composition and Language" 
12:00-12:50 PM MWF, in Coleman Hall Room 3290 
Instructor: Assistant Professor Weihsin Gui 
Instructor's contact information: 
Office: English Department, Coleman Hall, Room 3821 
Office Hours: MWF 3:00-4:00 PM and by appointment 
E-mail address: wgui@eiu.edu Work submission e-mail address: weihsingui@ymail.com 
Course description: This course is an introduction college-level writing. We will start with short writing 
assignments and move towards slightly longer papers at the end of the semester. Topics covered include 
grammar and common writing errors, generalizations and examples, comparison and contrast, division and 
analysis, and persuasion and argument. Our emphasis will be on developing critical reading, thinking, and 
writing skills that you can use in other courses in future. 
Course objectives: By the end of this course, you should be able 
1) To write expository and persuasive papers in which paragraphs, sentences, and words develop a central idea. 
2) To write focused, adequately developed paragraphs and sentences in standard written English that are 
free of ambiguity and structurally appropriate for the ideas expressed. 
3) To develop the ability to evaluate and criticize your own and your peers' writing. 
4) To develop the ability to understand and evaluate culturally diverse course materials reflecting historically, 
socially, and culturally relevant issues. 
Course policies: 
*Attendance in class is required. If you are absent for more than 4 class meetings your course grade will be 
lowered by one letter grade. Exceptions will only be made in the event of religious events, participation in 
University activities, serious illness, or other emergencies. A letter or medical certificate will be required for you 
to be excused. 
* Writing Groups: You will be assigned to a writing group of 4-5 students. For each writing assignment, you 
will be expected to circulate copies of your draft for your peers to read and comment upon. You will also be 
expected to offer constructive feedback on your peers' drafts. 
* Writing assignments: You must complete all written assignments to pass this course. 
* Grading breakdown: *20% Participation and Writing Groups 
*50% Essay assignments 
*30% Quizzes 
Important note about in-class quizzes: If you are absent or late for class on a day when there is a quiz, 
your grade for that quiz will be ZERO. You will only be allowed to take the quiz if you present a 
legitimate reason for your absence. 
* Revising essays: I have assigned 2 weeks for paper revision and individual conferences, one in the middle and 
another at the end of the semester. You may revise and resubmit any essay from the first half of the course 
during the first revision week, and any essay from the second half for the second revision week. You should 
schedule an appointment with me if you are unsure about how to revise your work. Also, staff at The Writing 
Center can help you.They are located in Coleman Hall, Room 3110, tel. 581-5929. 
*Students with disabilities: If you have a documented disability and wish to receive academic 
accommodations, please contact the Coordinator of the Office of Disability Services (581-6583). 
*Academic Honesty: All written work (papers, exams, tests, quizzes) must be original and independent. Do not 
resort to prefabricated papers and research materials found on the Internet. Make sure that you understand the 
meaning of plagiarism and the policy of the English Department: 
Any teacher who discovers an act of plagiarism -- "the appropriation or imitation of the language, ideas, and/or 
thoughts of another author and representation of them as one's original work" (Random House Dictionary of 
the English Language) -- has the right and the responsibility to impose upon the guilty student an appropriate 
penalty, up to and including immediate assignment of the grade ofF for the course, as well as to report the 
incident to the university's Judicial Affairs Office.Respect for the work of others should encompass all formats, 
including print, electronic, and oral sources. 
* E-mail submission and "Track Changes." For this course, you will submit almost all written assignments 
electronically to me using e-mail. Use this e-mail address for work submission: weihsingui@ymail.com. 
- If you are using Microsoft Office 2007, you must save your documents as a Microsoft Word 97 /2000/2003 
document (*.doc). I will be using the "Track Changes" feature to comment on your papers, so you should learn 
how to use it (try looking it up in MS Office Help). 
- When you send me your assignment, the subject/title line of your e-mail should follow this format: 
1001.25 [assignment number] [your name] 
So if your name is Clive Owen and you are e-mailing me the third assignment, the subject line should read: 
1001.25 #3A Clive Owen 
- It is your responsibility to make sure that your work gets to me punctually. Use a reliable e-mail client or 
server, and have a backup in case the first one is temporarily offline. I will not remind you that your work is 
overdue. Late work will be lowered by 1 letter grade for every day past the due date. 
Electronic Writing Portfolio: EIU requires all students to submit a document from 1001G OR 10020 to their 
Electronic Writing Portfolio. If you plan to submit a paper written in this class, you must schedule an 
appointment with me to review the text and to complete submission procedures. Schedule the appointment To 
ensure that your paper is cleared for the Portfolio, this appointment must be scheduled by November 4 and take 
place before the last day of classes. Students who plan to submit a paper from this class to their Portfolio will 
find submission forms and other information about the EWP at http://www.eiu.edu/-assess. 
Texts for this course: 
* The World is a Text by Jonathan Silverman and Dean Rader (WT) 
* Writing Analytically by David Rosenwasser and Jill Stephen (WA) 
* Easy Writer by Andrea Lunsford (EW) 
*Course packet available from Copy-X on Lincoln Avenue (near Morton Park) (CP) 
SCHEDULE OF CLASS MEETINGS AND ASSIGNMENTS 
PART 1: WHAT DOES WRITING AND "COLLEGE WRITING" MEAN TO YOU? 
WEEK 1 8/25-8/29 
I) Course introduction; "How Do I Write a Text For College?" from The World is a Text (handouts) 
2) Selections by writers about writing: Henry David Thoreau, Ralph Ellison, Joan Didion (handouts) 
3) Quiz #1 on Course Syllabus 
ASSIGNMENT #IA: Reflections on Writing/College Writing (1 pp.) DUE 5 PM FRI 8/29 
PART 2: GRAMMAR AND COMMON WRITING ERRORS 
WEEK 2 9/3 & 9/5 (9/1 Labor Day) 
1) Parts of speech, grammar points, common errors (handouts) 
2) Quiz #2 on grammar + this part's readings 
PART 3: THE "WRITE" OCCASION 
WEEK 3 9/8-9/12 
1) Personal writing: Kelly McCarthy, "Too Pumped" (CP) 
2) Professional writing: Mary Duenwald, "One Size Definitely Does Not Fit All" (CP) 
3) Academic Writing: Brad Lemley, "Isn't She Beautiful" (CP) 
ASSIGNMENT #lB: Reflections on Writing/College Writing DUE 5 PM FRI 9/12 
=========================== 
PART 4: GENERALIZATIONS AND EXAMPLES 
ASSIGNMENT #2A: Generalization and Example essay: "Public and Private Spaces" (2pp.) 
WEEK 4 9/15-9/19 
Week I: 
1) Introduction; in-class brainstorming and pre-writing 
2) 1st reading Kenneth Meeks, "Shopping In a Mall While Black: A Coach's Story" (WT) 
3) 2nd reading William L. Hamilton, "How Suburban Design is Failing Teenagers" (WT) 
WEEK 5 9/22-9/26 
Week 2: 
1) 3rd reading Matthew King, "Reading the Nautical Star" (WT) 
2) Writing Groups to discuss #2A 
3) Quiz #3 on grammar + this part's readings 
#2A DUE 5 PM FRI 9/26 
==================== 
PART 5: COMPARISON AND CONTRAST 
ASSIGNMENT #3A: Comparison and Contrast essay (2pp.) 
WEEK6 
Week 1 
9/29-10/3 
1) Introduction; in-class brainstorming and pre-writing 
2) 1st reading Catton, "Grant and Lee" (CP) 
3) 2nd reading Greenfield, "Black and White Truth about Basketball" (CP) 
WEEK7 
Week2 
10/6 & 10/8 (10/10 Fall Break) 
1) Writing groups to discuss #3A 
2) Quiz #4 on grammar + this part's readings 
#3A DUE BY 5 PM THU 10/9 
========================= 
WEEK 8 10/13-10/17 (Midterm) 
*REVISION WEEK+ INDIVIDUAL CONFERENCES 
========================= 
PART 6: DIVISION AND ANALYSIS 
ASSIGNMENT #4A: Division and Analysis essay (2.5-3 pp.) 
WEEK9 
Week 1 
10/20-10/24 
1) Introduction; in-class brainstorming and pre-writing 
2) 1st reading Alice Rutkowski, "Why Chicks Dig Vampires: Sex, Blood, and Buffy" (WT) 
3) 2nd reading Paul Theroux, "Being a Man" (WT) 
WEEK 10 
Week2 
10/27-10/31 
1) 3rd reading Whitney Black, "Star Wars and America" (WT) 
2) Writing Groups to discuss #4A 
3) Quiz #5 on grammar+ this part's readings; 
#4A DUE 5 PM FRI 10/31 
============--=============== 
PART 7: PERSUASION AND ARGUMENT 
ASSIGNMENT #5A: Persuasion and Argument essay (2.5-3pp.) 
WEEKll 
Week I 
1113-1117 
1) Introduction; in-class brainstorming and pre-writing 
2) 1st reading John Leo, "Kill-for-Kicks Video Games Desensitizing Our Children" (WT) 
3) 2nd reading Dan Walsh, "Hungry for a Scapegoat: A Rebuttal to John Leo's 'Kill-for-Kicks Video Games Desensitizing 
Our Children"' (WT) 
WEEK 12 
Week2 
11/10 & 11/12 (No class 11114. Instructor away for conference) 
1) 3rd reading Donald A. Norman, "Infuriating by Design" (WT) 
2) 4th reading Holly Devor, "Gender Role Behaviors and Attitudes" (WT) 
WEEK 13 11/17-11/21 
1) No class meetings: personal research and source evaluation 
2) Writing Groups to discuss #SA 
#SA DUE 5 PM THU 11/20 
==================== 
WEEK 14 THANKSGIVING BREAK -- NO CLASS MEETINGS 
========================== 
PART 8: WRITING ABOUT ADVERTISING AND IMAGES 
ASSIGNMENT #6A: Advertisement/Image Analysis Essay (l.5-2 pp.) 
WEEK 15 12/1-12/5 
1) Introduction; William Lutz, "Weasel Words" (WT); Breakout groups to discuss advertisements 
2) BMW short films: "The Hire" 
3) Writing groups to discuss #6A 
#6A DUE 5 PM FRI 12/5 
WEEK16 12/8-12/12 
*REVISION WEEK+ INDIVIDUAL CONFERENCES 
-~--------~-~~-~~-~-------
*FINALS WEEK: DEC 15-19 
***Final Portfolio with #lC REFLECTIVE ESSAY in front due 12/15 MON by 4 PM. 


ENG 1001G-025: Composition and Language

https://thekeep.eiu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1024&amp;context=english_syllabi_fall2008

ENG 1001G-025: Composition and Language

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