MANOR COLLEGE

MANOR COLLEGE

700 FOX CHASE ROAD

JENKINTOWN, PA 19046

EN102OL: Fundamentals of English Composition II On-line 03 Credits

Dr. Madeline Seltzer Spring 2008

E-MAIL ADDRESSES: TELEPHONE CONTACT

mseltzer@manor.edu 215-885-2360, EXT. 250

PREREQUISITES: Satisfactory completion of EN101

COURSE PHILOSOPHY:

The philosophy of Fundamentals of Composition II (EN102) begins with Socrates’ admonition that “The unexamined life is not worth living…” Examining our lives means questioning the basic assumptions and values of our culture and society as well as those of our selves. The basis of critical thinking, “examining our lives,” requires us to view the world from multiple vantage points, voluntarily giving up the familiar, safe cultural perspectives developed throughout our experience (the “tyranny of custom” in the words of philosopher Bertrand Russell). Each time that one of our basic assumptions or values is challenged, we encounter what is called “the liminal” (from the Latin “limen,” translatable into English as “margin” or “border”). In order to follow Socrates’ admonition, we need to allow new experiences and new knowledge to lead us to question the basic assumptions and values of our culture.

Gary Colombo, Robert Cullen, and Bonnie Lisle explain in their anthology Rereading America the power of our cultural myths in shaping our thoughts, feelings, values, and identities: “Culture shapes the way we think; it tells us what ‘makes sense.’ It holds people together by providing us with a shared set of customs, values, ideas, and beliefs, as well as common language. We live enmeshed in this cultural web: it influences the way we relate to others, the way we look, our tastes, our habits; it enters our dreams and desires. But as culture binds us together, it also selectively blinds us. As we grow up, we accept ways of looking at the world, ways of thinking and being that might best be characterized as cultural frames of reference or cultural myths. These myths help us understand our place in the world—our place as prescribed by our culture. They define our relationships to friends and lovers, to the past and future, to nature, to power, and to nation… Cultural myths gain such enormous power over us by insinuating themselves into our thinking before we’re aware of them. Most are learned at a deep, even unconscious, level… Our most dominant cultural myths shape the way that we perceive the world and blind us to alternative ways of seeing and being” (3-4).

In this course we provide opportunities for students to transcend this cultural encapsulation as they encounter the liminal in the characters and ideas presented in literature and film and in a re-examination of events from their pasts brought to the level of consciousness through the process of writing and reading.

As part of the curriculum of a Catholic college committed to education in values, this course is designed to heighten empathy, tolerance, and awareness of every individual’s responsibilities in society.

COURSE DESCRIPTION: INSTRUCTION AND PRACTICE IN COLLEGE

WRITING

This course introduces students to various types of writing that are necessary for college work, such as summaries, essays, and research papers. Students will write, critique, and revise their own papers with interactive feedback from the instructors, creating several drafts for each assignment, which will be read by the instructors. Students will develop their grammar and sentence skills, paragraph construction, essay organization, and research skills. Students will also read, summarize, and analyze a body of literature thematically focused on encountering the liminal. Information literacy skills will be addressed.

COURSE OBJECTIVES:

1. Students will learn the following skills and writing strategies:

a. description and narrative

b. the use of examples to support a thesis

c. cause/effect analysis

d. synthesis

e. summary and analysis of college level readings

f. basic research form and technique: information literacy

g. application of hermeneutic keys for various media

2. Students will develop an awareness of the impact of encountering the liminal on their beings and lives.

3. Students will develop the ability to scrutinize critically their beliefs and convictions.

4. Students will develop a robust awareness and understanding of what constitutes the

liminal for them.

5. Students will further develop their empathic skills.

STUDENT OUTCOMES:

1. Students will demonstrate proficiency in negotiating the various constructive elements of the written medium—i.e. brainstorming and implementing patterns of organization, grammar and mechanics, and proofreading/editing strategies—as vehicles for facilitating critical thinking.

Measure: Students will exhibit proficiency in negotiating language as a tool of critical thinking in essays and writing exercises.

Standard: 80% of students will complete all written assignments with a C or better level of proficiency.

2. Students will demonstrate effective reading and critical thinking skills.

Measure: Students will critically analyze assigned texts in completing writing exercises.

Standard: 80% of students will maintain an average of a C or better level of proficiency in critically analyzing the works through writing exercises.

3. Students will become familiarized with literature as a tool for examining self and others, philosophically, psychologically, and anthropologically/sociologically, with the ultimate aim of understanding self and others through continually shifting perspectives—encountering the liminal.

Measure: Students will develop the capacity to implement significant tools for examination of self and others through critical reading and critical writing.

Standard: 80% of the students will perform on average at a C or better level of proficiency in implementing the tools for examination of self and

others, through critical reading and critical writing.

4. Students will demonstrate the ability to understand the ethical issues explored through texts dealing with the theme of the liminal.

Measure: Students will explore the theme of the liminal in writing exercises and essays.

Standard: 80% of students will perform on an average at a C or better level of proficiency in exploring the theme of the liminal, through writing exercises and essays.

5. Students will demonstrate the ability to identify and retrieve information from a variety of primary and secondary electronic and traditional text sources.

Measure: Students will identify and retrieve information for a research paper.

Standard: 80% of students will complete the research paper with a C or better level of proficiency.

6. Students will demonstrate the ability to evaluate information according to acceptable criteria.

Measure: Students will evaluate information retrieved electronically and traditionally for a research paper.

Standard: 80% of students will complete the research paper with a C or better level of proficiency.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS:

In order to pass the course, the student must fulfill the following requirements:

1. Completion of all writing and reading assignments on time. Late papers will not be accepted unless arrangements have been made with and ratified by the instructor prior to the due dates of the papers.

2. Average passing grade for the 6000 words of graded writing.

3. Plagiarism—that is, representing as one’s own the work of someone else—is a serious offense with serious consequences from failing the

essay, to failing the course, to being expelled from the college (see the plagiarism policy in the student handbook). Students are responsible for making sure that they do not plagiarize.

REQUIRED TEXTS:

Davakaruni, Chitra Banerjee. The Unknown Errors of Our Lives.

Random House Inc., 2001.

Hult, Christine A. and Thomas N. Huckin. The New Century Pocket Guide for Writers.

Pearson Education, Inc., 2007.

APPROACHES TO TEACHING:

Internet lectures on basic concepts
Hands-on writing projects
Feedback on submitted writing

GRADING:

100%-90% A

89-80 B

79-70 C

69-60 D

59 or lower F

TOTAL POINTS FOR COURSE: 1000

WRITING EXERCISES 250

WEEK 2 50

WEEK 2 ESSAY 50

WEEK 4 QUESTIONS 50

WEEK 6 ESSAY 100

WEEK 9 ESSAY 100

WEEK 10 QUESTIONS 200

WEEK 14 ESSAY 200

ATTENDANCE:

This is an online course. Attendance means that students will use the resources available on the course website and maintain weekly contact with the instructor. All work must be submitted on time, and communication with the instructor must be timely.

REQUIRED COMPUTER ACCESS

· Students must have access to a PC that is connected to the internet

· Students must have an e-mail account

· Students must have a Microsoft Word 2000 (or a later edition) loaded on their computer

WEBSITES:

Tech Support: helpdesk@manor.edu