Welcome to English 1A

1. Welcome to English 1A Composition with Georgie Ziff

2. About you… • On a piece of paper please write the following… • name and contact phone number • other courses you’re taking • what college English courses you’ve taken and where • Current employment and schedule • things - anything I should know to better help y help you during the class • how y – how you feel about your writing

3. About me… Georgie Ziff - Two boys: 18 & 21 - We live in Oakland. • Grew up on the East Coast and the Midwest, but came to California for a one year job and never left. • M.A. in Composition and Creative Writing from CSUEB • B.A. from CSUEB: double major in English/Women’s Studies • 8th year teaching college composition at California State University East Bay; 7th year at Merritt College; 5th year at Berkeley City College; 3rd year at Los Medanos College • Certified Scorer/Reader – Educational Testing Service – GRE, EPT, EAP • Why the photo? Because we’re all that kid on the inside; find your own voice in your writing. • My advice: school will always be ready for you when you are ready for school.

4. About Writing… • my favorite writing quote: • “Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts. This requires not that the writer make all his sentences short, or that he avoid all detail and treat his subjects only in outline, but that every word tell.” • William Strunk Jr.Elements of Style

5. Required Course Materials • Reading Critically, Writing Well by Axelrod, Cooper and Warriner – 9th edition. • I’m a Stranger Here Myself by Bill Bryson ISBN 9780767903820 • Composition book for your writing journal • Account with Engrade.com • Reliable computer and printer • Stapler or paper clips • Flash drive or account with Dropbox

6. Course Gradebook Engrade.com is the online grade book used for the course * Go to www.engrade.com/student * You will receive a personal registration code from me. You MUST type it in exactly, including the hyphens; for example: georgieziff-123456789-1234 • Each of you will have your own code to register, and then you will enter your own email, user ID and password to access the grade book site. • YOU are responsible for keeping track of the access code and your progress in the course, including missing assignments

7. Grading in the Course • Three essays 60% • Homework 15% • Group Presentations 10% • Individual Presentation 5% • Writing Journal 5% • Portfolio 5%

8. Save Your Work Online * Create a free account at www.dropbox.com for saving your work online. You can then access it in the computer lab. This is a great tool – it not only provides you with a place to save work, it also synchronizes any changes you make online, so your Dropbox is always up to date! * Use a flashdrive as backup, in case you cannot go online.

9. Essay Assignments • You will write three essays: • Observation Essay • Position Essay • Nonfiction Bill Bryson book essay • These are multi-draft essays, which will be peer reviewed in class; final drafts submitted without earlier drafts and peer review feedback will not be accepted and will receive a failing grade. Come to class prepared with drafts as part of the writing process.

10. Presentations • Individual Presentation: a) You will choose one story from Bill Bryson’ book, “I’m a Stranger Here Myself” and read it aloud b) You will provide a rhetorical analysis of the story in response to a set of questions • Group Writing Presentation: In a small group of 3 or 4 classmates, you will select and research a topic about writing and create a 20 minute presentation for the class that has three parts: 1) describes the topic 2) demonstrates the topic 3) involves the class with a learning activity/exercise

11. Presentations, cont. • Group Rhetorical Analysis: • In small groups of no more than 4 or 5 students, you will select an essay from the textbook and create a class presentation analyzing the essay from a rhetorical standpoint.  • Rhetorical Analysis Guidelinesare available for download from the class web page and details are provided on the Rhetorical Group Presentation webpage. Presentations will be the last week of school. Each group will submit a collaborative Group Portfolio.

12. Homework • On the online Schedule on your class page, the homework assignments are underlined with hyperlinks to articles about writing topics. • Your task is to read each article and provide TWO paragraphs (not just a few sentences!) a) paragraph one = summary of the article (no opinion) b) paragraph two = your response and analysis of the topic. Specifically: * How effective/understandable/helpful is the article? * How is this information applicable to your writing? * What strategies can you employ from this information to improve your college writing? Homework must be typed, double-spaced, and turned in by Thursday of the week it is due to get full 5 pts. Late is accepted for only partial credit. NO emailed work.

13. Attendance Policy • Come to class prepared and on time. • Bring your textbooks to every class. • As this class meets four days a week, missing four classes will result in being dropped from the class. • In addition, as participation is required, the instructor reserves the right to fail a student who does not submit any assignments and essays in a timely manner, i.e. more than two weeks late. • Computer lab days are required! • Attendance is your job as a student; your life is not my business, so as such, do notfeel it is necessary to inform me about reasons for absences or tardy issues.

14. Today’s Objectives • To get oriented to the course, the syllabus, requirements, expectations, and so forth. • To break/melt the ice with one another • To form and begin working in collaborative groups

15. Break the Ice • Form groups of three • Find one item you are carrying that is significant to you and share it with your group; explain the significance • Find one thing that everyone in your group has in common • Exchange email/contact information with each other

16. In the Spot Light • Each of you will in turn introduce one person in your group and share something you learned about him/her • Share what everyone in your group has in common

17. Working as a Team • Together come up with 3 to 4 questions you have about this course • Now, with the syllabus, try to find the answers to the questions you came up with • Let’s talk about the questions you couldn’t find answers to…

18. What to expect next class… • Presentation sign ups • Discussion of writing process • Plagiarism Lesson • Your first reading assignment

19. Your To Do List: • Buy Reading Critically, Writing Well – 9th edition • Buy Bill Bryson’s book • Buy a blank composition book for your writing journal • Buy a small stapler. • Register at www.engrade.com • Go to the class website – www.georgiesenglishwiki.pbworks.com Download the Syllabus and Schedule, noting the homework assignments.