 |
Word Rogues |
 |
|
|
On English and Writing: Leon Lanzbom |
|
 Instructor: Leon Lanzbom E-Mail: lanzbom@yahoo.com English 098 English Fundamentals spring 2007  Required materials: Textbook: Langan, John. English Skills 6th ed 8½ x 11 Bluebook Highlighter pens: pink, yellow, and blue Catalog Description A course in basic English skills, students will study grammar, punctuation and standard written English usage. With an introduction to the writing process, students will learn basic sentence patterns to compose paragraphs and at least one multi-paragraph essay. COURSE REQUIREMENTS six (6) paragraphs (drop the lowest grade) outside of class, which will be turned in for grades. five (5) Startle Response quizzes, given without announcement in-class midterm and a final exam, (cataclysmic shakedowns) final paper that shows me you have learned all concepts and presentations  Paragraph and Essay AssignmentsAll paragraphs and essays must be typed before they are handed in. The only exceptions to this rule are some of the in-class writing assignments. You are highly encouraged to put all your writings on a computer disk. This will make your periodic revisions much easier. If you do not have a computer at home, you may use the computers on campus either in the LRC computer lab or the English writing lab. Again, since this is a writing course, you are required to write frequently throughout the semester. Note Bien: if you fail to hand in an assignement, you will lose all points from that assignment. Journal Since we learn a skill by practicing that skill, I am encouraging you to get into the habit of writing in a journal. The first two weeks you are required to make four full-page entries. Beginning with the third week you will only be required to make approximately one journal entry a week. These entries are to be one full page (over 200 words). You are to write on the topics in class. What do you understand? What don’t you understand? Since there is often a direct correlation between reading and writing skills, you are required to read several short essays and write about them in your journal. CLASS POLICIES Due Dates: To receive full credit for an assignment (homework, journal, paragraph, etc.) you must turn it in at the beginning of class. Assignments not handed in within the first five minutes of class are late. Absence is not an excuse for lateness. Late is late is late. Your grade will be lowered one letter grade if a paragraph or essay is a day (or five minutes late); then, ten one letter grade will be subtracted for every day that passes without the assignment being handed in. Homework will be given only half credit when turned in a day (or 5 minutes late). Late homework must be turned in during the next class period, though, or it will not be accepted  Prewriting:
My hope is that after completing this course, you will better
appreciate the recursive nature of the writing process—from prewriting
to drafting to rewriting to editing. Further I hope that you come
to accept the fact that all writers do better work when they do some
form of prewriting before they begin drafting. Consequently, to
help you develop this habit, for every paragraph and essay, you must
prewrite—both invention and organization—before you start your first
draft. If you fail to prewrite, ten points (one full grade) will
be subtracted from your paragraph/essay score.Preliminary Drafts: Before you present your paragraph (or essay), you will work with members of the class, one at a time, to get feedback on your second draft before it is polished up for your presentation. You are required to bring two TYPED, HIGHLIGHTED copies of your preliminary draft to class. Additionally, you are responsible for helping others by making significant editorial comments on their work. Presentations: For each scheduled paragraph or essay presentation, you are required to bring five (5) typed, doubled-spaced, highlighted copies (and the original) to class. You will read your piece of writing to the group you are with. You will then get feedback on your paragraph (essay) from your peers and from me. Ten (10) points will be subtracted from the score if you fail to bring adequate copies of your essay for group members or for not highlighting your piece of writing; twenty (20) points will be subtracted if you fail to attend a presentation. Highlighting: To help you evaluate your writing, I require you to highlight all of your assigned writing in the following way:
Text Books: The textbook is used as a workbook, so you are required to bring your book to class each class session. Five (5) points will be subtracted from your homework point total each time you do not bring your book to class. Attendance: It is important to attend all class sessions. It is difficult to learn new material when you are not present in class. Also, please remember the college attendance policy states that if you miss more than twice the number of times a class meets in week, you may be dropped. For this course it means you may be dropped when you have been absent five times. If you miss more than 20 minutes of a given class, you will be marked absent for that class. Additionally, be aware that two tardies equals one absence. 
I view attendance in this way: If you are in class, you are in class;
if you miss, you miss. That is all. I have no desire to
make judgments about what is a legitimate excuse for not being in
class. As a result, there is no point calling or e-mailing me to
report an “excused” absence. I do understand, though, that
compelling issues or even crises do arise during a
semester. If you have a critical problem, contact me, so we
can work toward a solution together. However, PLEASE DO NOT COME
UP TO ME AT THE BEGINNING OF CLASS TO ASK ABOUT WHAT YOU MISSED.
Contact someone else in the class or talk to me during office hours to
get the information you missed. Classroom conduct: Beepers and phones are to be turned off (or at least to “silent” mode) during class. The first time a beeper or phone rings during class, I will warn you. The second time it happens, you will be asked to leave class and not to return until the following class session. Plagiarism: This is the attempt to pass off someone else’s work as your own. If an assignment has been plagiarized, you, at the very least, will be given a 0 for that assignment. It can also be grounds for dismissing you from this course or from Cuyamaca College. Buddies: You are urged to have two names and phones numbers of other people in the class whom you can call for information. GRADES The class requires completing several different types of assignments. Your semester grade will be determined by weighting the assignments in the following manner: ___________________________________ Grading of assignments: six essays (drop lowest grade of 1st three) 10.0% 10 pts. each = 50 pts. two Cataclysmic shakedown exams 40.0% 100 pts. each = 200 pts. one final essay 30.0% 150 pts each = 150 pts. five Startle-Response quizzes 10.0% 10 pts. each = 50 pts. homework, journals, participation 10.0% 50 pts total = 50 pts (Percentages are approximations) 100.0% 500 pts. You are required to take and hand in the final essay. There will be no make up, unless arrangements are made with me. (If you do not take the final, you will lose all points.) In order to receive credit for the course, 70% of the possible number of points is required. Students with disabilities who may need academic accommodations should discuss options with their instructors during the first two weeks of class. It is also recommended that you contact Disabled Students’ Programs & Services (DSP&S) in A103. You may also call DSP&S at 660-4239 to schedule an appointment. English 098—fall semester 2007: menu (Note: this is a tentative schedule and may be alternated by the instructor anytime during the course.) 
________________________________ Four Steps (bases) You Must Have in Your Essay
Monday 19th: Washington Day Week 5 February
Feb. 23: Last Day to Apply for CR/NC - Semester Length Classes Week 6 (Feb/March) W-28 Due: prewriting C/E ¶; evaluate ¶s p. 155-57; avoiding run-ons; W-7 Present C/E ¶ (#2); Compare & Contrast p. 205-12; avoiding run-ons p. 367-68; W-14 Due: prewriting Contrast ¶; avoiding fragments p. 370-74; compound-complex Week 9 (March)
___________________________________ Week 13 (April) M-16 Due: prewriting Defining a Term ¶; adjectives p. 438-40, 545-47. W-18 Due: preliminary draft for Defining a Term or Classifying ¶; p. 557 adjectives & adverbs p. 441-42.
For MLA Worksheet, Click HERE
April 20: Last Day to Drop Semester-Length Classes M-23
Present: Classifying ¶ or Defining a Term ¶; Arguing
a Position p. 269-272; adj & adv worksheets; p. 552, 554, 556. W-25 Due:
Journals 11-12; assign Arguing a Position ¶—prewriting in
class
Click here for "English Works" five paragraph essay example. Simple Sentences  A simple sentence is built of a single subject-verb unit. Ron runs. The chicken flew the coop. The unicycle has been riden by several sad circus clowns. Yet, a simple sentence can have more than one subject or verb. multiple subjects: Ron and Aryeh run. The chicken and the rooster flew the coop. The unicycle and the ostrich have been riden by several sad circus clowns. multiple verbs: Ron runs and trips. The chicken flew and buzzed the coop. The unicycle has been stolen and riden by several sad circus clowns. We can even have multiple subjects and verbs: The unicycle and the pogo stick and the Schwinn Airdyne had been stolen, ridden, and returned by several sad circus clowns. ________________________________ Compound Sentences A compound sentence is built out of two or more simple sentences.  These
are two complete sentences with a subject and verb hooked up together,
and they are usually connected by a comma plus a word to join the two
sentences.The joining words are called coordinating conjunctions because they coordinate the two sentences. the coordinating conjuncions: and, but, for, nor, or, so, yet. Carl opened the door, and the ants made their break to freedom. Lois loves to go shopping at Sacks, but Superman can never find anything to match his costume there. Billy loved his asparagus garden, for he was not your average boy. You see? Each of the above can be separated into two sentences, but the coordinating conjunction coordinates them together. Consider the coordinating conjunction as the camp councilor of the word world. The words and, but, for, nor, or, so, and yet, are always trying to hook their sentence campers together. There will usually be something in common between the first sentence and the second sentence. In other words, the ideas of both sentences should be related. _________________________________ Complex sentences: A complex sentence is made up of a sentence with a complete thought and a statement of an incomplete thought (one that begins with a dependent word). We are talking about an dependent clause and an independent clause hooked up together. Remember: an independent clause tells a complete thought; a dependent clause tells an incomplete thought. Here's an example of a dependent clause: When I get those P.F. Flyers... Do you feel the tension in the above dependent clause. It's incomplete. It needs more, more, MORE! When I get those P.F. Flyers, I'll be the most popular kid in school. A dependent clause begins with a dependent word. Let's look at a few. Dependent words:
 When do we use complex sentences? When we want to emphasize one idea over another. Before I left the house, I fed my pet cockatiel. What we want to emphasize here is this guy fed Cessna. I fed my pet cockatiel is a complete thought. Before I left the house is subordinated to the complete thought. This technique of giving one thought more emphasis than another is called subordination. With subordination, the part of the sentence starting with the dependent word or the subordinator will always be the less emphasized part of the sentence. But if you want to emphasize leaving the house you would write: After I fed my pet Cockatiel, I left the house. Do you see how the use of the the word after causes the first half of the sentence to emphasize I left the house? Read it again. This is important stuff and will give your writing a tremendous boost. It depends on what you’re trying to express. If you want I left the house as the emphasis of the sentence, you would leave that clause independent. But, like all the grammar we've learned in this class, it depends on context. Check out the context in the following sentence: After I fed my pet cockatiel, I left the house. But when I got to my office, I realized I had forgotten my keys for the third time this week. And in this one: Before I left the house, I fed my pet cockatiel. Cockatiels are very picky eaters, and if Cessna does not find a piece of mango in her birdseed, she gets into a huff. Can you feel the difference between the above two sentences? One emphasizes the forgetting of the keys; the other emphasizes the feeding of Cessna, the cockatiel A very important point to remember is to make the last part of your sentence the emphatic part. Emphasize your main thought at end of your sentence and pick up that thought in the beginning of your next sentence. ___________________________________ Clause: He constructed a vast labyrinthine of periods, made impassable by the piling-up of clauses upon clauses--clauses in which oversight and bad grammar seemed manifestations of disdain. -- Jorge Luis Borges A clause is a group of related words that has both a subject and a predicate. A clause can be a complete sentence or a part of a sentence. Remember: a predicate is the verb and its related words. The scrod swam chop-chop up the Gulf of Mexico. The predicate tells what the subject does or what the subject is (as in this sentence or the scrod sentence above, the predicate is italicized). 2 types of clauses: 1)Independent 2)Dependent An independent clause forms a complete thought:  Danny O'Day named his dog Farfel. Independent clause = a sentence. A dependent clause needs the rest of the sentence to make sense. Dependent clauses cannot stand alone. Even if they have a subject and a predicate, they do not form complete sentences. [Although the Martians tried,] they couldn't capture the falafel stand. Brittany sees her pet Drosophila melanogaster twice a day [because she loves him]. Coordinating Conjunctions: Join words, phrases, clauses of the same grammatical structure in a sentence. They are the Tapanzee Bridges of the grammar world. And, but, for, nor, or, so, yet. I cannot find my whippoorwill or my wombat. (two nouns) Charo swung her hips but fell off the stage. (two verbs) If the Ruby throated hummingbird and the squirrel dance the tango until morning, they'll sleep all day long. (two dependent clauses) Mary loofahed daily, yet she still showed signs of detritus. (two independent clauses) _______________________________ Subordinate Conjunctions: Subordinate conjunctions carry you into a dependent clause. If the subordinate clause comes first, use a comma between the the dependent clause and the independent clause. No comma is needed if the subordinate clause comes at the end. Some common subordinate conjunctions: After, though, unless, that, as if, whereas, in order that, unless, since, until, because, before, although, so that, while, even though, where. When a sentence starts with a dependent clause (like this one), the subordinate conjunction comes first. It states the circumstances / condition of the independent clause. When Ralph walked in the room, the chickens stopped clucking. The chickens stopped clucking when Ralph walked in the room. On Subjects and Verbs  Words that come between subjects and verbs should be handled with care. Take this sentence for example: The pies in the refrigerator are not as tasty as I thought. The subject pies is plural, so the verb must be plural as well. We must use the verb are for the verb and subject to agree. The words, in the refrigerator, which come between the subject and the verb, do not affect agreement. Don't be fooled by the object of a preposition--learn what a prepositional phrase is. By identifying the prepositional phrase, you can avoid subject-verb agreement problems. Remember this rule: the subject will never be found in a prepositional phrase. Indefinite Pronouns Indefinite pronouns always take singular verbs.
Everyone in the line screams (not scream) for their money back. Nobody twists (not twist) the way she does. Each of the students has (not have) a beautiful sandwich for lunch. Verbs must agree with subject no matter their placement in a sentence: Near my closet hides Chris Ware. *here the famous illustrated novelist, Chris Ware, is the subject; the verb he comes after must be singular. Near my closet hide Chris Ware and Quimby the Mouse. *here we use a plural verb because we have a plural subject: Chris Ware and Quimby the Mouse. Interrogatives are sentences with different verb placement: Where are those sea anemones? *the word anemones is the subject here, so we must use the plural verb are. Watch your subject-verb placement with sentences that begin with the words there, here, who, which, what, and where. Compound Subjects  When the word and joins subjects a plural verb should be used: Chris Ware and Quimby the Mouse are a demanding couple. Esther and Haman are the life of the party. When subjects are joined by or or nor or contain either. . .or, neither. . .nor. the verb agrees with the subject closest to the verb: After the last incident, neither Cha Cha nor her cousin eats BBQ. Neither the barista nor her helpers make a decent soy mocha latte extra hot no whip. Comma Splices and Run-Ons:  The Comma Splice: When one independent clause (a complete sentence) is followed by another independent clause, never use a comma between them, use a period or a semicolon or a comma followed by a joining word. Not this: Yosef has diverse taste in magazines, he reads All About Beer, Chevy Truck World, and Redbook. But this: Yosef has diverse taste in magazines; he reads All About Beer, Chevy Truck World, and Redbook. Or this: Yosef has diverse taste in magazines. He reads All About Beer, Chevy Truck World, and Redbook. Of course, you can join two independent clauses with a comma followed by a coordinating conjunction (and, but, for, nor, or, so, yet). Yosef has diverse taste in magazines, for he reads All About Beer, Chevy Truck World, and Redbook. But, if the second clause is preceded by an adverb, such as however, moreover, therefore, or thus, a semicolon should be used. Yosef has diverse taste in magazines; therefore, he reads All About Beer, Chevy Truck World, and Redbook. Important style point: If the clauses are short, a comma can be used: Yosef reads magazines, magazines read Yosef. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Now
you are going to take the meal you described, revised, of course, after
our class readings, and write a second short
paragraph describing the same meal, but from the point of view of
a man or woman, coming from another country who has never seen or had
this type of food before. You can take on any point-of-view you'd
like. Perhaps this person is so poor, he or she never had access
to this type of meal, or perphaps, this food is forbidden.
It's up to you.
Process
Analysis: This essay is written like all other essay, except you
are going to explain a process or how to do something.
| © lanzbomicci designs |
|