Syllabus

ENGLISH 110
SECTION: EQTA
(Tuesdays & Thursdays, 4:00-5:40
Classroom: KP 304)
Office: Klapper 347

Instructor: Laura Reznick
Email: Lauralisa.reznick@gmail.com


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Required Texts (available in the Queens College Bookstore)

Seeing and Writing 3. Third Edition. Ed. Donald & Christine McQuade (0312434294)
The Complete Persepolis. Marjane Satrapi (9780375714832)
One Loose-leaf lined notebook for in-class writing assignments
A portfolio for all writing assignments to be turned in at the end of the semester

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Course Description

This course explores the relationship between seeing and writing. Oftentimes through the process of seeing, the images we observe inspire the language we write. In this course you will react to and write about a wide variety of visual stimuli (such as photography, paintings, graphic novels, and movies), in order to provide opportunities for critical thinking and composition about the visual stimuli observed.

Similarly, you will observe and employ imagery used in literature. Imagery is used in literature to refer to descriptive language that evokes sensory experiences. Using figures of speech such as similes, metaphors, personification, and assonance can create such images in the mind’s eye. Using a variety of readings, images, and different media, we will study and employ such stylistic literary devices with the aim of discovering how the act of reading approximates the act of seeing and how seeing often inspires writing.

The focus of this course is not only on the finished product, but also on the process of writing. Every successful essay undergoes an evolution and develops through multiple revisions. This is a workshop course in which you will often be required to share drafts and work in groups. You will turn in drafts for my and your peers’ consideration, and will alter and revise your essays based on these comments. The more feedback you get at each stage of writing an essay, the more you can become aware of the reader's needs, and the extent to which your writing fulfills them. We will read many essays and interrogate many images in this course and you will learn to respond to both their content and form. The hope is that you will apply this process of interrogation to your own work through rewrites and revisions, and furthermore that by moving fluently between the visual and verbal worlds, you will improve your analytic and compositional skills. Finally, by understanding that how we see affects how we make sense of the world, you will learn that writing is also an act of seeing.




Course Requirements

Writing: This is a writing intensive course. Expect to both read and write frequently in response to the assigned readings, class discussions, and on the class blog.


• Reading Assignments: You must read all of the assigned readings for this course. They will provide the material to which your essays respond. They will also furnish models of successful writing. We will be analyzing and deconstructing their constituent parts and how they crystallize to form effective arguments.


• Quizzes and In-class Writing: Often you will be expected to respond to the reading assignments. These responses will motivate you to read closely and carefully and allow me to determine any problem areas or misunderstandings. Performance on these responses will count towards your grade.


• Blog Journals: In addition to your formal essays, I will assign topics for daily journal entries. You may write these entries at http://seeingwriting.blogspot.com. I may ask you to briefly summarize a reading assignment – what ideas/themes are being expressed? How do the author's stylistic elements relate to the main idea of an important theme? I may ask for a subjective response – how does the story, theme or style affect you? Does something in the text startle you, interest you, make you think or wonder? Use other entries to experiment further with things done in class, or for your own creative purposes. In-class writing exercises should also be collected on the blog. Journaling is a good writing habit and will help you to generate ideas for your essays. I will review these journals and try to respond to them. Although you will not be graded on the content of your journal, the consistent (or inconsistent) fulfillment of it will account for a percentage of your final grade.


• Essays: This class will be structured around three essays, each building on the skills you have learned from the last. Each essay will go through a draft phase, which I will collect and we will discuss in class. This draft will then be returned to you and you will revise it for a grade. Only the revised essays will be graded. All drafts must be typed in 12 point Times New Roman font. I will give you more information on the essays as the class progresses.


• Grading: Your grade will be calculated in the following way:

∗ Essay 1: 20%
∗ Essay 2: 20%
∗ Essay 3: 25%
∗ Journal Entries: 15%
∗ In-class Participation: 20%


• Participation: Because this is a discussion class and not a lecture course, active participation is paramount. In order to actively participate you must arrive on time to class having done the assigned reading or writing, and, once in class, engage in classroom discussion. If you are not in class, then you cannot participate. As such, although attendance is not factored into your grade, excessive absences (more than three) will negatively affect your grade. If you must miss a class try to notify me at least two hours ahead of time by email, and make an appointment to meet with me so that we can go over the material you’ve missed. You are responsible for getting any missed readings and to turn in any assignments on time.

• Conferences: You will meet with me at least three times during the semester to discuss your work and your feelings about the course. In these conferences we will discuss your progress, your concerns, and your goals. Please do not limit our meetings to these conferences. I will also be happy to talk to you at other times about any questions or concerns you have.

• Peer Review and Workshops: Each of the three essays you will write during the semester will be discussed in a workshop group. I will assign you to a workshop group for each essay and you must bring enough copies of your draft for everyone in the group. Consequently, you are not only responsible to me, but to each other. Come to class prepared to discuss; try to engage with other students' writings as you will with those of the other writers we will read. Be constructive, and approach your classmates' work as you would have someone approach your own. Address the ambition as well as the result. Take notes on the work itself – don’t rely on memory. (That said, this is not a correspondence course. I expect each of you to express yourselves aloud in class so your peers can benefit from your comments.)

• Plagiarism: Plagiarism is a serious offence and is an act of academic dishonesty. Plagiarism is stealing and passing off the ideas or words of another as one's own, using another's production without crediting the source, or presenting as new and original an idea or product derived from an existing source. Queens College regards acts of academic dishonesty (e.g. plagiarism, cheating on examinations, obtaining unfair advantage, and falsification of records and official documents) as serious offenses against the values of intellectual honesty. The college is committed to enforcing the CUNY Policy on Academic Integrity and will pursue cases of academic dishonesty according to College Integrity Procedures. It will be very difficult to succeed at plagiarizing as, "Queens College has a pilot license for the use of Turnitin, a system that detects plagiarism by comparing students' essays to a large database of essays and web content." (Queens College Provost Office). Any use of plagiarized materials will be reported to the Dean and will result in a failing grade for the course.

• Learning Goals: By the end of the semester, students can expect to have achieved the following goals:
- The ability and confidence to construct a persuasive essay, with a clear thesis, topic and evidence.
- The ability to analyze and deconstruct other authors’ writing for the purpose of writing about it.
- Possessing a confident understanding of English grammar rules.
- The ability to self-edit and revise for greater clarity.
- The ability to effectively research a given topic, and organize that research to best persuade a reader.

Course Schedule


Week 1

Thursday January 28 Introduction



Week 2

Tuesday February 2 “Writing Matters”– pp. 3-25
Seeing and Writing

Thursday February 4 pp. 27-49
Seeing and Writing


Week 3

Tuesday February 9 Annie Dillard’s “Seeing” – pp. 108-117
Jorge Luis Borges’ “Blindness” (handout)
Seeing and Writing
Blog


Thursday February 11 Tracey Baran’s “Mom Ironing” p. 64-65
Tillie Olsen’s “I Stand Here Ironing” pp. 66-71






Week 4

Tuesday February 16 Richard Selzer’s “The Knife” (handout)


Thursday February 18 NO CLASS

Week 5

Tuesday February 23 “Challenging Images” – pp. 598-611
Isabel Allende’s “Omayra Sanchez” pp. 612-615

Thursday February 25 “Chapter 2: Coming to Terms with Place” – pp. 139-149
Edward Hirsch’s – “Edward Hopper and the House by
The Railroad (1925)”
Seeing and Writing
Blog


Week 6

Tuesday March 2 Eudora Welty’s “The Little Store” – pp. 154 – 160


Thursday March 4 E.B. White’s “Once More to the Lake” – pp. 162 -167


Week 7

Tuesday March 9 Essay #1 – First Draft
Peer Review

Thursday March 11 Marjane Satrapi’s “Persepolis” – pp. 1-46
Persepolis
Blog



Week 8

Tuesday March 16 Persepolis – pp. 47-102

Thursday March 18 Persepolis –pp. 105-197


Week 9

Tuesday March 23 Persepolis – pp. 198-245

Thursday March 25 Persepolis – pp. 246-298
Essay #1 – Second Draft Due

Week 10

Tuesday March 30 NO CLASS

Thursday April 1 NO CLASS
Week 11

Tuesday April 6 Persepolis pp. 299- end
Blog

Thursday April 8 “The Texture of Retracing in Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis” – (handout)



Week 12

Tuesday April 13 Library Visit


Thursday April 15 Watch Film



Week 13

Tuesday April 20 Essay #2 – First Draft Due
“Reading Icons” p. 499 - 578
Seeing and Writing

Thursday April 22 Seeing and Writing pp. 588-597


Week 14

Tuesday April 27 Seeing and Writing pp. 642 – 656
Second Draft of Essay #2 Due


Thursday April 29 Seeing and Writing pp. 657- 676
Blog

Week 15

Tuesday May 4 Conferences


Thursday May 6 Conferences

Week 16

Tuesday May 11 Final Presentations


Thursday May 13 Final Presentations