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English 200 - Fundamentals of WritingTextbooks
1. The Circuit by Francisco Jimenez
2. The American Heritage Dictionary, 4th edition
Materials
• Blue or black ink pens for in-class writing
• Journal: composition book with heavy lined paper
• One large examination Greenbook (8 ½ x 11”)
Important: You must bring both books, as well as your Journal and ink pens, to every single class meeting.
Course Description
This is a course dedicated to developing fluency in English. We will spend most of our time reading, thinking, and writing. We will spend a little of our time talking, too. Most of the writing we do will be in response to our reading and thinking. You can expect to read aloud often in this class: we will each take turns reading aloud from our textbook and the dictionary, and also from our own writing that we do in our Journals. Some of our work will be done out of class, but most of our work will be done in class.
On a regular basis we will:
• read silently at home and aloud in class from Francisco Jimenez’ autobiography, The Circuit;
• discuss his book and the themes he develops;
• write summaries of the stories in The Circuit and use the book and our American Heritage Dictionaries to develop our vocabulary;
• write our own autobiographies into our Journals;
• visit several works of on-campus public art in order to describe, interpret, and evaluate these works, sharing our results with the class;
• review the fundamentals of English grammar and usage, including the parts of speech, sentence basics, paragraphing skills and, finally, essay writing;
• take tests to assess our progress in the course;
• develop confidence and competence in our use of the English language.
As you can see from the activities listed above, we’ll be pretty busy this quarter. Essentially, the course is divided into three units of study. At the end of each unit, we will take a test. Also, as we go through the quarter, you will do a lot of writing into your Journal. The Journal is both your textbook and your workbook; your work for this class will be recorded almost entirely into your Journal. Whatever you do, don’t lose it. It’s your responsibility to keep it current and with you at all times in our class. If you lose your Journal, you will not pass this class because it is one of the chief tools of assessment for this course. I will also keep close track of your attendance and participation. When I call on you to participate in class (which will happen often), I will note your level of participation into my gradebook. To top it all off, at the end of the quarter, you will write a cumulative in-class essay during our final exam session.
Grading
This class has no letter grades; it is a Pass/No Pass class. At the end of the quarter, I will collect your Journal, read it carefully, and decide if your writing demonstrates that you are ready for the next level English class. I will also evaluate your test scores, attendance & participation, and your final essay exam. If all of these items are completed satisfactorily, you will receive a Pass. But if you have not completed all the work and/or if your work is unsatisfactory, you will receive a No Pass. De Anza College allows you to take this class twice if you need to, so don’t worry if you don’t pass it the first time. Many people need to repeat this class in order to be successful.
Co-Requisite
If you are signed up for this class, you must also take English 201. Ideally, you should be enrolled in both at the same time. English 201 is a small group experience, one hour per week, designed to give you further practice with words, sentences, and paragraphs. It is a separate class, with its own lessons and requirements, but the two classes are designed to work together to build your writing skills and prepare you for the next level English class. You must pass both English 200 and 201 in order to move on to the next level writing course. If you are not currently enrolled in English 201, go as soon as possible to Room LC138 to enroll. Don’t wait until next week; that may be too late.
Policies
No Electronic Devices: While you are in this class, you must give it your full attention. This means absolutely no cell phones or other electronic devices, including iPods. Turn them off and pack them away. If I see you using a phone or other electronic device in class, you will be given ONE warning. After that, you will receive a zero on my roll sheet.
Attendance/Participation: I will call on you often to read aloud in class, participate in discussions, and write on the board. I will record your participation level on my roll sheet. I do not “call roll” after the second week of class; instead, I keep track of your work by noting your participation level on my roll sheet: for excellence and creativity, you will receive a plus; if you are doing good and trying hard, a check; but if you respond in an immature manner or show little effort, you will receive a minus; and if I call on you and you’re not in class, or if you choose not to participate, you will receive a zero. If you have more than four zeros on my roll sheet—for whatever reason—you will not pass the class. Be on time, be alert, participate actively.
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