LaGuardia Community College, The City University of New York
Department of Education and Language Acquisition
ESA 099.5268 – Basic Writing
Spring I, 2017
Instructor: Victoria Somogyi
Office: B-234
Office hours: by appointment
Email:
Class website: esa99.pbworks.com
CLASS MEETING DAYS, TIMES, ROOMS
Day / Time / RoomLecture / Tuesday
Thursday / 5:45 pm-7:55 pm / C-726
Lab / Wednesday / 5:45 pm-7:55 pm / B-233
GENERAL COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course aims at developing college-level writing proficiency. By emphasizing the writing process, rhetorical conventions, summary writing, paraphrasing and analytical language skills, the course will prepare students for timed, high-stakes essays, such as the CATW. In addition, students will learn to identify and correct grammatical errors in their own compositions and learn to employ argumentative and other rhetorical modes in a short essay form to clearly express ideas written in academic English.
INSTRUCTIONAL OBJECTIVES
This course will:
1. Enable students to write fluent and well developed essays of at least 4 paragraphs.
2. Reinforce students’ writing skills through process-based writing, including pre-writing, drafting, revising, and editing.
3. Provide students with test-taking strategies to prepare for text-based, timed, high-stakes writing.
4. Enable students to become analytical readers and writers by familiarizing them with critical reading strategies to various text selections.
5. Familiarize students with techniques for summary writing and critical response writing.
6. Familiarize students with modes of argumentation including thesis statement and development.
7. Introduce the rhetorical concepts of voice, audience, and purpose.
8. Reinforce students’ knowledge of academic English and editing skills.
9. Reinforce skills necessary to retake the CUNY developmental writing test (CATW).
RECOMMENDED BOOKS
1. A standard English-English dictionary such as The Longman Dictionary of American English.
Possible books:
2. Taking the CUNY Assessment Test in Writing by Laurence D. Berkley, 2011. Bedford/St. Martin’s (ISBN-13: 978-1457602283).
3. The Keys to the CATW by Regina A. Rochford, 2012. Kendall Hunt Publishing (ISBN-13: 978-1465213327).
Note. To help students save money in their textbook purchases, CUNY has created a web page called “How to Save Money on Textbooks." This resource provides links to websites that sell discounted new and used books, eBooks, open source materials, and rental options. The web page can be found at:http://www.cuny.edu/about/resources/student/textbook-savings.html.
ATTENDANCE POLICY
You must continue to attend class in order to take the CATW exams. In order to keep up with the workload, you must be in class. Some readings will be distributed in class and most of the required essays will be written in the lab. Therefore, if you are not there, you will not be able to complete the assignments.
Attendance at class meetings is a requirement that will be considered in the evaluation of student performance. Instructors are required to keep an official record of student attendance. It is important to note that absences are counted from the first class meeting even if these are a result of late registration or change of program. Your lab attendance is also mandatory and will be recorded as a part of class attendance. The Academic ESL Lab maintains a separate attendance roster for all required lab sessions. Any students who wish to check their lab attendance record during the semester should see the assigned tutors in B-233.
If you miss a class, you are still responsible for the work covered in that class. Please find out how to get in touch with two classmates who you can contact to obtain the class notes and any other information that you missed:
Buddy #1 Phone/Email:
Buddy #2 Phone/Email:
THE CATW EXAM
Passing the CATW exam is required of all CUNY students in order to take college-level composition courses (ENG 101). The ESA 099 course is designed to prepare you for the CATW as well as for academic writing expected of college students in the US. With this in mind, the course demands more from you than simply passing the CATW exam (an immediate goal). This course requires your attendance, diligent work, and timely submission of all assignments.
You will have the opportunity to take the CATW exam twice during the semester – once at midterm and once towards the end of this semester.
COURSE GRADES AND ADVISEMENT
Grades for ESA099 will be based on students’ attendance, homework, and classwork as well as passing the CATW exam. Students who achieve a score of 56 or higher on the test will receive a grade of C- or higher; those who have also passed the CUNY reading test will be placed in ENG 101; students who score 55 and below on the CATW test will receive a grade of “R” and will be required to repeat the level by taking ENG 099. Students may also qualify for an Express Course or ENA 101 – please look for the information from the ELA Department and English Department on these courses that will be made available at the end of the semester.
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY
The College has established an Academic Integrity Policy that describes procedures and penalties for students who are suspected of academic dishonesty. Academic dishonesty is prohibited in the City University of New York and is punishable by penalties ranging from a grade of F on a given test, research paper or assignment, to an F in the course or suspension or expulsion from the College. Academic dishonesty includes cheating, plagiarism, Internet plagiarism, obtaining unfair advantages, falsification of records and official documents, and misconduct in internship.
OPTIONAL TUTORING SERVICES
In addition to the required weekly lab sessions, students may wish to use the individualized tutoring
services available through the Writing Center. It is located in B 200 and open Monday-Friday, 9am-9pm.
CLASSROOM RULES
(1) Cell phones should be put away unless you are explicitly instructed that you may use it for classwork. If I see you texting in class, you will be marked absent. (2) Students must respect other students’ opinions even if they disagree with them. (3) Students must be ready to work cooperatively in pairs and groups when asked to. (4) No videotaping in the classroom is allowed.
Course Outline*:
Monday / TuesdayRoom: C-726 / Wednesday
Lab: B-233 / Thursday
Room: C-726 / Friday / Sat.-Sun. /
March 6 / March 7 / March 8 / March 9
Essay #1 / March 10 / March 11-12
March 13 / March 14 / March 15
Essay #2 / March 16 / March 17 / March 18-19
March 20 / March 21 / March 22
Essay #3 / March 23 / March 24 / March 25-26
March 27 / March 28
Sign up for midterm CATW / March 29
Essay #4 / March 30 / March 31 / April 1-2
April 3 / April 4 / April 5 / April 6
CATW midterm / April 7 / April 8-9
April 10
Spring recess / April 11
Spring recess / April 12
Spring recess / April 13
Spring recess / April 14
Spring recess / April 15-16
April 17 / April 18
Midterm CATW grades returned to dept. / April 19
Essay #5 / April 20 / April 21 / April 22-23
April 24 / April 25 / April 26
Essay #6 / April 27 / April 28 / April 29-30
May 1
Essay #7 due / May 2 / May 3
Essay #7 / May 4 / May 5 / May 6-7
May 8 / May 9 / May 10 / May 11 / May 12 / May 13-14
May 15 / May 16
Sign up for final CATW / May 17
Essay #8 / May 18 / May 19 / May 20-21
May 22 / May 23 / May 24 / May 25 / May 26 / May 27-28
May 29
Memorial Day / May 30
CATW final / May 31
Monday schedule / June 1 / June 2 / June 3-4
June 5 / June 6 / June 7 / June 8
CATW grades
returned to dept. / June 9 / June 10-11
*This is a tentative outline and may be revised, based on the needs of the class.
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