1. Welcome to English 1A Composition with Georgie Ziff

2. About English 1A o English 1A explores reading and writing expository prose: critical thinking, identifying logical fallacies, and reasoning inductively and deductively. o Students will write well organized, well developed, effective, well-edited, logically sound, clear essays. o Write effective, well edited, well organized research papers which apply appropriate and clear organizational strategies. o Apply active reading strategies in order to identify main ideas and critically analyze and explain ideas in texts (written summaries, exercises, and reading responses). o Practice the conventions of academic writing, including introduction to Modern Language Association (MLA) documentation style of citation.

3. About you… o On a piece of paper please write the following… ̶ name and contact phone number ̶ other courses you’re taking ̶ what college English courses you’ve taken and where ̶ Current employment and schedule ̶ things - anything I should know to better help y help you during the class ̶ how y – how you feel about your writing

4. About me… Georgie Ziff - Two boys: 18 & 21 (BHS graduates) - We live in Oakland. ̶ I grew up on the East Coast and the Midwest, but came to California for a one year job and never left! ̶ M.A. in Composition and Creative Writing from CSUEB ̶ B.A. from CSUEB: double major in English and Women’s Studies ̶ 8th year teaching college composition at California State University East Bay; 6 th year at Merritt College; 5 th year at Berkeley City College; 2 nd year at Los Medanos College ̶ Certified Scorer/Reader – Educational Testing - EPT, EAP Wh - Why the photo? Because we’re all that kid on the inside; find your own voice in your writing.

5. About Writing… ̶ my favorite writing quote: o“Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts. This requires not that the writer make all his sentences short, or that he avoid all detail and treat his subjects only in outline, but that every word tell.” o William Strunk Jr. Elements of Style

6. Required Course Materials (Amazon link) (Amazon link) o Reading Critically, Writing Well by Axelrod, Cooper and Warriner – 9 th edition. (Amazon link)(Amazon link) o Composition book for your writing journal o Account with Engrade.com o Account with Turnitin.com – class ID = XXXXX and the password = english o Stapler or paper clips o (suggested) USB flash drive and/or an online free account with Dropbox.com

7. Course Gradebook Engrade.com is the online grade book used for the course * Go to www.engrade.com/student * You will receive a personal registration code from me. You MUST type it in exactly, including the hyphens; for example: georgieziff-123456789-1234 Each of you will have your own code to register, and then you will enter your own email, user ID and password to access the grade book site. YOU are responsible for keeping track of the access code and your progress in the course, including missing assignments

8. Save Your Work Online * Create a free account at www.dropbox.com for saving your work online. You can then access it in the computer lab. This is a great tool – it not only provides you with a place to save work, it also synchronizes any changes you make online, so your Dropbox is always up to date! * Use a flashdrive as backup, in case you cannot go online.

9. Homework o On the Schedule online on your class page, the homework assignments are hyperlinked to articles about a variety of useful writing topics. o Your task is to read each article and provide TWO paragraphs (not just a few sentences!) a) the first paragraph is a summary of what the article said, without opinion, paraphrasing in your own words b) the second paragraph is your response and analysis of the topic. * How effective/understandable/helpful is the article? * How is this information applicable to your writing? * What strategies can you employ from this information to improve your college writing? Typed homework is due Wednesdays for full 5 pts; late work is accepted for partial credit only; 3 pts/1 pt.

10. Essay Assignments o You will write three out-of-class essays: o Observation Essay o Evaluation Essay o Position Essay o These are multi-draft essays, which will be peer reviewed in class; final drafts submitted without earlier drafts and peer review feedback will not be accepted and will receive a failing grade. o Come to class prepared with drafts as part of the writing process.

11. In Class Essay Assignments o You will write two in-class essays during one full class period: o The first in-class essay will be a practice essay from which you will receive feedback and comments. o The second in-class essay will not receive feedback and will be included in your Final Course Portfolio.

12. Presentations o Group Writing Presentation: In a small group of 3 or 4 classmates, you will select and research an assigned topic about writing and create a 20 minute presentation for the class that has three parts : 1) describe the topic 2) demonstrate the topic 3) involve the class with a learning activity/exercise * After signups, the groups, presenters, and dates will be listed online.

13. Final Course Portfolio o The English Department will assess your Final Portfolio which will include: o One timed in-class essay o 3 – 5 page Position Research Paper o The resulting score will be balanced against your course score for a final grade. ̶ You will receive feedback on a practice in-class timed essay early in the semester but will not receive feedback from your instructor on the Portfolio content. ̶ Details and due dates are available on the syllabus and online on the Portfolio page and Position Essay Guideline page.

14. Grading in the Course o Three out of class essays 60% o Homework 10% o Group Presentation 5% o Writing Journal 5% o Portfolio (includes in-class essay and Position Research Paper) 20%

15. Attendance Policy o Come to class prepared and on time o Bring your textbook to every class o Attendance is your job as a student; your life is not my business, so as such, do not feel it is necessary to inform me about reasons for absences or tardy issues. This class meets two days per week; a student who misses five classes, regardless of the reason, will result in being dropped from the class. o In addition, as participation is required, the instructor reserves the right to drop or reduce the final grade of a student who fails to submit any assignments and essays in a timely manner, i.e. more than two weeks late. o Computer lab days are required!

16. Today’s Objectives o To get oriented to the course, the syllabus, requirements, expectations, and so forth. o To break/melt the ice with one another o To form and begin working in collaborative groups

17. Break the Ice 1.Form groups of three 2.Find one item you are carrying that is significant to you and share it with your group; explain the significance 3.Find one thing that everyone in your group has in common 4.Exchange email/contact information with each other

18. In the Spot Light 1.Each of you will in turn introduce one person in your group and share something you learned about him/her 2.Share what everyone in your group has in common

19. Working as a Team 1.Together come up with 3 to 4 questions you have about this course 2.Now, with the syllabus, try to find the answers to the questions you came up with 3.Let’s talk about the questions you couldn’t find answers to…

20. What to expect next class… o Presentation sign ups o Discussion of writing process o Discussion of plagiarism o Your first reading assignment

21. Your To Do List: o Buy Reading Critically, Writing Well – 9 th edition o Buy a blank composition book for your writing journal o Buy a small stapler and/or paper clips o Go to the class website – www.georgiesenglishwiki.pbworks.com Download the Syllabus and Schedule, noting the homework assignments.