English 550, Fall 2000, 4:30 P.M.

English 550 with Dr. Cathy Decker, Fall 2000

Tuesday and Thursday, 4:30 P.M.

Hi!

You probably have a lot of questions and a lot of anxiety about this class. Here are some key things to remember: (1) Will this matter in five years? (2) Breathe (3) You–your soul, your dreams, your capacity, your talent–are not contained, judged, or embodied by any one speech, paper, or test (4) Tell me about it! Be honest, be calm, and usually we can figure it out with some patience and common sense–whatever "it" is! (5) I’m human, and I don’t like it when people yell at me, lie to me, insult me, laugh at me, ignore me, or act rudely. I also assume you are human and don’t like it either. I hope we can treat each other in a relaxed, calm, and polite way!

Yours,

Cathy

Cathy's Office: LA-7C Cathy's Mailbox is in LA-10 Cathy's Phone: 941-2412

Cathy's Office Hours: Mon. & Wed. 1:30-3; Tues. & Thurs. 11:30-12:30

Cathy's email: cathy@hal.ucr.edu http://hal.ucr.edu/~cathy

Grade Scale

F	D-	D	D+	C	C+	B-	B	B+	A-	A	A+
NC	NC	NC	NC	Credit	Credit	Credit	Credit	Credit	Credit	Credit	Credit
0-54	55-62	63-67	68-73	74-77	78-80	81-83	84-86	87-89	90-92	93-95	96-99

Grade Formula

What	Percent of Total Course Grade	Extra Credit Possibility
Practice	25%	1%
Office/Writing Center Visits	5%	2%
Journal Work	10%	1%
Cultural Enrichment	5%	1%
Participation and Self-Assessment Report	5%	no
Quizzes, Graded Work	45%	no
Final Exam	5%	no
Total	100%	5%

Special Required Supplies

John Langan’s Sentence Skills with Readings

Sharon Creech's Walk Two Moons

Scantrons, 20 of No. 815-E, 10 of 882-ES (bring some of each to class)

Policies

Bring bottled water to class, staying hydrated helps. Don’t bring other liquids or food into the classroom; leave them on a chair or the cement outside the classroom door.

Talk to your classmates before class, during group work, and when no one is trying to present ideas to the class. Interrupt or talk during teacher and student presentations only when it is very, very important and immediate.

In class and my office, turn off your cell phone, pager, watch beeper, CD player, etc.

When in doubt, ask. If out of class, you can call, email, or drop off a note. I dislike making phone calls and checking email, but I do it because I’m an adult. Yet, I don’t tend to do this in a very timely fashion. I’m working on getting back to people faster, but please don’t take it personally if I take a few days to reply.

Come to class on time. If you are late, come in quietly and sit down. Don’t come to school and then not go into class because you late–Better late than never. If you miss a class, call a classmate and find out what you missed. If you tend to miss classes, ask classmates if you can call them and for their number. Be aware you will not be able to get credit or "make up" some things done on the day you miss–graded classwork, quizzes, etc. Homework will often be announced in class.

Late work is usually a problem for me–it takes twice as long to grade or it hinders my ability to discuss the work in class without giving the late person an advantage. Neither of things is good, so I’m taking 20% off late work that causes problems. By our grade scale, the maximum grade possible for late work is an 80 or C+.

I am a thorough grader. Expect big projects to take two to three weeks to grade. Expect small exercises back a little sooner, but please be patient.

We will deal with adult content in this class. Some of the content may be upsetting.

Plagiarized work gets a zero. Cheating through ignorance might get mercy; liars and people who steal from other students or try to hurt other students’ ability to learn get justice, not mercy, and peeve me a great deal.

Keep a record of everything; save all graded work until the report card arrives; make copies of important projects before turning them in. When papers get lost and mistakes occur, copies are a blessing.

Bring all your books, notes, and papers to class, writing center appointments, and office hour visits. The writing center has a "no assignment, no service" policy; I can’t help you with work if you don’t have it with you.

This class is not worth your tears. You reap what you sow. Use common sense.

Tentative Schedule

The pages listed by each class date are to be read before that class date. The assignments listed for each date are also to be done before the class.

SS=Sentence Skills with Readings W2=Walk Two Moons pp.=pages

8/24 SS pp. 1-13, W2 pp. 1-9

8/29 SS pp 13-28 and 216-220, W2 pp. 10-16

8/31 SS pp. 28-34, W2 pp. 17-24, Journal Activity #1 Due

9/5 SS pp. 35-46, W2 pp. 25-28, Activity in SS pp. 40-41 on Scantron 815-E and on same Scantron do Activity p. 45-6 (renumber in book 6-15; S=A, G=B)

9/7 Writing Center Session/No Class Session (*Stamped evidence of session required)

9/12 SS pp. 47-61, W2 pp. 29-40, Activity in SS pp. 51-52 on Scantron 815-E

9/14 SS pp. 61-74, W2 pp. 41-52, Journal Activity #2 Due

9/19 SS pp. 85-93, W2 pp. 53-58

9/21 SS pp. 94-110, W2 pp. 59-69, Review Test 3 in SS pp. 109-110--part 1 on Scantron (Frag=A, C=C) and part 2 on paper

9/26 SS pp. 509-513 and 533-540, Questions 538-50 on Scantron & paper, W2 pp. 70-79

9/28 SS pp. 111-126, W2 pp. 80-90, Journal Activity #3 Due

10/3 SS pp. 127-146, W2 pp. 91-97, Review Test 1 in SS pp. 135 on Scantron (1st choice=A, 2nd choice=B)

10/5 SS pp. 147-166, W2 pp. 98-106

10/10 SS pp. 295-299 and 463-474, W2 pp. 107-113

10/12 SS pp. 300-320, W2 pp. 114-120, Journal Activity #4 Due

10/17 SS pp. 278-294 and 321-329, W2 pp. 121-128

10/19 SS pp. 167-190, W2 pp. 129-141

10/24 SS pp. 191-215, W2 pp. 142-151

10/26 SS pp. 221-237, W2 pp. 152-163, Journal Activity #5 Due

10/31 Reading in SS TBA, Questions on Reading on Scantron & paper, W2 pp. 164-169

11/2 Writing Center Session/No Class Session (*Stamped evidence of session required)

11/7 SS pp. 238-248, W2 pp.170-6

11/9 Reading in SS TBA, Questions on Reading on Scantron & paper, W2 pp. 177-188

11/14 SS pp. 249-257, W2 pp. 189-197, Journal Activity #6 Due

11/16 SS pp. 259-271, W2 pp. 198-204

11/21 SS pp. 272-277 and 487-505, W2 pp. 205-216

11/23 School Holiday/No Class Session

11/28 SS pp. 421-430, W2 pp. 217-232, Journal Activity #7 Due

11/30 W2 pp. 233-255

12/5 W2 pp. 256-280

12/7 Journal Activity #8 Due

12/12 Practice Booklet Due; Exam Prep (Final is Thursday, Dec. 14, 4:15-6:45)