Important Announcements and Updates

Monday, December 10:
After marathon grading sessions today, I have received the grades for your Exit Exams (In-Class Essay). Of 23 students registered, 6 have either disappeared, stopped attending, or did not take the exam. Of the seventeen who actually took the test, ten passed (58.82% of those testing, or 44% of enrolled students), and seven failed (41.18%, or 30% of enrolled students).

Please remember, we are not meeting on Tuesday, December 11, as your ACT results are not yet available; I will receive your ACT exam scores Thursday morning, so I will be able to let you know all of the details on Thursday, December 13, at the regular class time. Attendance at personal conferences on Thursday is mandatory.

Tuesday, November 27:
Although finished, typed drafts of At-Home Essay 4 were due today, I received only nine essays (and one of those was not even typed, so I should not have accepted that). As there are still 23 students registered, that is a rather dismal showing of 39%. If we discount the four students who have apparently quit the class entirely (bit without officially dropping),  it is only a slightly less pathetic 47%.

Please remember that Thursday, November 29, is your retest date for the CUNY ACT Exam. The exam begins at 11:45; please be on time.

Sunday, November 25, 2007:
On Tuesday, November 27, students who completed In-class Essay 4 last week should receive them back, evaluated; in addition, finished, typed drafts of At-Home Essay 4 are due. The topic (no choice this time, other than which side you select) was assigned last week, and is available here.

Tuesday, November 20, 2007:
Of 23 students still registered for the class, only 16 bothered to show up for today�s In-class Essay 4; of those who did not show up, at least two have permanently disappeared, and one contacted me due to illness and will be allowed to make up the work. Those who neither showed up nor contacted me have already received a grade of 0 for the assignment.

Enjoy the holiday. See you next Tuesday.

Sunday, November 18, 2007:
On Tuesday, November 20, students who submitted optional revisions of In-class Essay 3 will receive them back; in addition, finished, typed drafts of At-Home Essay 3 are due. These essays should be submitted with the original, graded essays and all ancillary materials (peer review checklists, et cetera). In addition, remember that you will be writing In-class Essay 4 , the final in-class essay before ACT end-of-term testing (Thursday, November 29, at 11:45). Finally, remember your vocabulary assignment is due; as assigned on Thursday, November 15, look up and define the following words from Sontag�s essay:

Wednesday, November 14, 2007:
As previously announced in class, optional revisions of In-class Essay 3 are due tomorrow: Thursday, November 15. Revisions must be submitted with the original, graded essays. In addition, be sure to complete the reading, SW3 pp. 652-656, before class. Your in-class assignment for the day will be based on the reading; specifically, you may be asked any of the following:

A.   In your own words, state the thesis of the essay. That is, in one sentence, what is Sontag�s main idea, her assertion about photography and its depictions of suffering?

B.   �Sontag�s essay is dense with provocative statements and questions about the cultural functions and meanings of photography. Create an outline of her essay in which you title and then paraphrase each of her core arguments. List the examples she uses to support each assertion� (McQuade and McQuade 656).

C.   Look up and define the following words:

Thursday, November 8, 2007:
As announced in class today, ACT end-of-term testing for ENG099.0734 is scheduled for Thursday, November 29, at 11:45.  By official policy, those students who have not complied with the attendance policy and/or have not completed all assigned work are not eligible to take the ACT. Please refer to the Class Policies on your syllabus or on the course�s main page, as well as to the Introduction to Basic Writing handout distributed the first week: Departmental policy allows no more than four (4) hours of unexcused absences in ENG 099, including both classroom and lab sessions. Students who do not meet the English Department�s attendance policy will not be permitted to take the ACT exam.

Also as announced in class, optional revisions of In-class Essay 3 are due next week: Thursday, November 15.

Wednesday, November 7, 2007:
On Thursday, in addition to a possible pop quiz on the assigned readings (SW3 pp. 553-563, including Chip Kidd, "Super"; Richard B. Woodward, "Wonder"; and Neal Gabler, "Inside Every Superhero Lurks a Nerd"), we will review the exercises that you completed  in class on Tuesday, especially Exercise 3-2. In addition, you should get back your corrected In-class Essay 3, and finished, typed drafts of At-Home Essay 3 are due, both for an in-class peer revision exercise and to be collected.

Tuesday, November 6, 2007:
After correcting today�s exercises, I have decided to count only the first two (3-1 and 3-2), not the third one (Exercise 3-3), as this one threw too many students. We will go over 3-2 in class together on Thursday, and you should get back your corrected In-class Essay 3. In addition, please remember that on Thursday, At-Home Essay 3 is due in class, both for a peer revision and to be collected.

Wednesday, October 31, 2007: Happy Hallowe�en!
Please note that reading assignment listed on your syllabus for Thursday, November 1, is incorrect. The correct assignment is SW3 pp. 407-419, 440-444, including Donnell Alexander, "Cool Like Me" (not 407-419, 440-449). In addition, topics for At-Home Essay 3 and In-class Essay 3 have been posted, and will be discussed in class tomorrow.

Wednesday, October 24, 2007
As announced in class on Tuesday, your final revisions of At-Home Essay 2 are not due tomorrow; the due date has been moved back to Tuesday, October 30. However, optional revisions of In-class Essay 2 are due. In addition, be sure to complete the reading, SW3 pp. 104-118, before tomorrow�s class; you will be doing two group writing exercises based in part on the essays and images presented.

Wednesday, October 16, 2007

 Your typed draft of At-Home Essay 2 is due tomorrow, Thursday, October 17; you must have a completed typed essay and a completed essay outline (essay outline form available here). We will be working on peer revision for much of the period (see peer review checklist, here).

 Your graded In-class Essay 2 will also be returned; optional revisions will be due Thursday, October 25.

 Optional final revisions of At-Home Essay 1 are also due tomorrow.

 Finally, in addition to what was previously listed on the schedule for next week (Keys 41 (pp. 378-396) for Monday and  SW3 (pp. 388-405, including Chris Ballard, "How to Write a Catchy Beer Ad") for Thursday), we will also be completing a group exercise on Monday.

Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Your final revisions of At-Home Essay 1 are due tomorrow; please refer to Class Policies on your syllabus or at the course�s main page regarding late work. In addition, be sure to complete the reading, SW3 pp. 104-118, before class.

Monday, October 1, 2007
Be certain you have read Keys for Writers Chapters 37 and 38 (pp. 353-366) and bring the text to class;
In-class Assignment: Fragments is posted here.
Also, remember, optional revisions of In-class Essay 1 are due on Tuesday, October 2, and At-Home Essay 1 (Revised) is due Thursday, October 4.

Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Click here to see a 239-word sentence that is not a run-on sentence!

Remember, your first at-home essay is due Thursday, Sept. 27. If you forget or did not write it down, the topic for this first at-home essay is from the exercise on p. 5 of SW3, and is also posted here.

Tuesday, September 18, 2007
As announced in class today, there will be no class on Thursday, Sept. 20. For Tuesday, September 25, please be sure to complete the assigned readings (Keys, Chapter3, pp. 39-51, and SW3, pp. 44-49). Also, begin thinking about and working on your essay, due Thursday, Sept. 27. If you forget or did not write it down, the topic for this first at-home essay is from the exercise on p. 5 of SW3, and is also posted here. In addition, the main page and syllabus have both been updated again, and please note that I now have an additional email, for LaGuardia Community College students: [email protected].

 Tuesday, September 11, 2007
As announced in class today, there will be no classes on Thursday, Sept. 13 (and Friday, Sept. 14) or on Thursday, Sept. 20. Please make certain you have purchased the textbooks and have read Keys, Chapters 1.1 and 1.2 (pp. 3-39) and the Introduction to SW3, "Writing Matters" (pp. 3-25) by next week�s class.

Monday, September 10, 2007:
The main page and syllabus have both been updated for the first day of class; however, both will be further revised and expanded after our first few classes.

Legal Notice and Disclaimer