Instructor: Dean Carlson



English 104 -09

Freshman English I

MWF 10:30am – 11:45am

Course Description:

This will not be a course about the do’s and don’ts of the English language. Instead, this will be a course about questions. You will learn about which questions to ask, how to ask them, and when. Our primary method of exploring these questions will be through the readings and writings (Short Response Papers-SRPs) assigned for homework. In addition, this class will explore the nuances and valences of genre. Each genre will have its own audience, purpose, and, of course, it’s own questions. Once you finish this course, you will be an expert at several genres, and more importantly, you will have the tools to teach yourself how to write in any convention. Dates and assignments are subject to change according to the instructor’s discretion, and an updated syllabus will be provided to you.

Text & Materials:

o Muller, Gilbert H. The McGraw-Hill Reader: Issues Across the Disciplines 10th Ed. New York: McGraw-Hill Higher Education, 2008

o Graff, Gerald, and Cathy Birkenstein. “They Say/I Say”: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing. New York: W. W. Norton, 2006.

o A registered account at

Projects & Grades:

Classroom Participation 15%

Homework/SRPs 25%

3 Genre Assignments 30% (5%, 15%, 10%)

3 Essays 30% (10% ea.)

Course grades:

F (

Student Accommodations

I am fully committed to helping students with special needs. Please make use of my office hours or my email if you have any concerns. Further questions may be answered at the Disability Resource Center Home page at:

Late Assignments

Late assignments will be reduced one full letter grade of their original score for each week (starting with the first) after the assignment is due. My email is posted above.

Academic Integrity

Cal Poly Pomona is a university dedicated to learning. Not only do plagiarism, cheating, and other forms of academic dishonesty undermine the learning environment, but they diminish the value of your degree. Any instance of academic dishonesty as described by the Cal Poly Judicial Affairs website will be reported to the Office of Judicial Affairs and will result in your failure of the course. More information can be found at the link below:

Wiki Etiquette

Each edit is logged and saved by . As a result, any student who intentionally alters any of the wiki pages constructed by and for this class for any purpose other than directed by the instructor will receive a failing grade and will be reported to the Office of Judicial Affairs.

Week 0: Introduction

F 9/26 Syllabus Review & In-Class Diagnostic

Week 1: Concepts in Critical Thinking

M 9/29 Reading/SRP Due: McGraw-Hill Reader (MGR), pgs. 57-61 (Adler)

Discussion: Engaging the Book

W 10/1 Reading Due: MGR, pgs. 17-20

Discussion: Synthesis

Essay 1 Assigned

F 10/3 Reading/SRP Due: MGR, pgs. 111-115 (Argumentation/Lincoln)

Discussion: Logos, Pathos, Ethos; Stasis Theory

Week 2: Reading, Writing, Revising

M 10/6 Reading/SRP Due: MGR, pgs. 148-150 (King)

Discussion: The 5-paragraph Essay

**Note** Class may be cancelled, so check your email before 8:00am!!

W 10/8 Reading Due: None

Assignment Due: Essay #1 Rough Draft

Discussion: Peer Revision “Read-Around”

F 10/10 Reading/SRP Due: MGR, pgs. 86-90 (Tannen)

Discussion: Writing the Audience

Week 3: Process Revisited

M 10/13 Reading Due: MGR, pgs. 72-76 (Murray)

Discussion: What is X?

Assignment Due: Essay #1 (5pts extra credit with a UWC stamp)

W 10/15 Reading/SRP Due: MGR, pgs. 68-70 (Elbow)

Discussion: Freewriting and Citation

F 10/17 Reading Due: MGR, pgs. 12-17

Assignment Due: Bring Two Different, Legitimate Sources (MGR 205-211)

Discussion: Plagiarism and Reported Speech

Genre #1 Assigned

Week 4: An Introduction and/or Parsing of Genre

M 10/20 Reading Due: MGR, pgs. 881-881 (Turkle)

Discussion: Advertising as a Means of Identity

W 10/22 Reading Due: MGR, pgs. 155-158 (Sabin/Goodall)

Discussion: Stasis: A Note on Definitions

F 10/24 Reading Due: None

Assignment Due: Genre #1

Discussion: What did we discover?

Week 5: Imagination

M 10/27 Reading/SRP Due: Ch.1 of The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka trans. Johnston

Discussion: Defining Imagination

Genre #2 Assigned: Groups Formed

W 10/29 Wiki-Workshop

Reading/SRP Due: Selected Poems by E.E. Cummings

Assignment Due: Sign up & Register at genre.

Discussion: Words as Art

F 10/31 Halloween!

Wiki-Workshop (unanswered questions and concerns)

Reading/SRP Due: The Stolen Child by William Butler Yeats

Essay #2 Assigned

Week 6: Memory

M 11/3 Reading/SRP Due: MGR, pgs.658-660 (Morrow)

Discussion: Memory as Photography

W 11/5 Reading/SRP Due: Mgr, pgs. 590-592 (Barry)

Discussion: Memory as Comedy

F 11/7 Reading/SRP Due: MGR, pgs. 593-601 (Steinem)

Discussion: Memory as Argument

Week 7: Interview

M 11/10 Reading Due: None

Assignment Due: Find a Debate Topic & Draft a Business Letter

Discussion: What are the Conventions and Why?

W 11/12 Reading Due: None

Assignment Due: Sample Email/Finding a Product

Discussion: Advertising English

F 11/14 Reading Due:

Assignment Due: Find Internet Interview

Assignment Due: Essay #2

Discussion:

Week 8: Research

M 11/17 Reading/SRP Due: MGR, pgs. 178-185

Discussion: Wiki-critique/Evaluating Sources

Genre #2 Check-up

W 11/19 Reading/SRP Due: MGR, pgs. 218-232 (Lee)

Assignment Due: Two Websites: One Credible, One Not

Discussion: What is Expected?

F 11/21 Reading/SRP Due: 235-253 (Multiple Authors)

Discussion: Citing Differences

Genre #3 Assigned

Week 9: Critics, Critiques, and the Critiqued

M 11/24 Presentations

Final Paper Assigned

W 11/25 Presentations

Reading Due: MGR, pgs. 696-699 (Armstrong)

Discussion:

F 11/27 No Class on Thanksgiving

Week 10: Presentations Cont’d

M 12/1 Presentations

Reading Due: MGR, pgs. 867-870 (Darwin)

Discussion: An Evolving Question

W 12/3 Reading/SRP Due: MGR, pgs. 712-715 (C. S Lewis)

Discussion:

F 12/5 Reading/SRP Due: 704-708 (Plato)

Discussion: An Ideal World?

Instructor Evaluations

Week 11: Final

F 12/12 Final Essay Due: Submit to my email address by Noon

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