Robin Pruter

Mailbox: IC2070

pruter@cdnet.cod.edu

(630) 941-1060 (emergency only)

Office Hours: By appointment

Composition 2

Course Description:

English 102 is the second part of the required three-part sequence in English composition. The goal of this course is to develop your skills in reading, writing, and thinking critically. You will write five essays demonstrating your ability to examine and respond to the ideas of others. You will also be introduced to the basics of research writing.

Readings:

There are three books required for this course:

• Behrens, Laurence, Leonard J. Rosen, and Bonnie Beedles. A Sequence for Academic Writing. Second Edition.
• Silver, Alain, and James Ursini. Film Noir Reader.
• Hammett, Dashiell. The Glass Key.

The goal of English 102 is to learn to understand, process, and write about the ideas of others. Thus, there will be a large reading component to this class. I expect you to do the readings on time. If I think that you're not completing the reading assignments, I may start giving out quizzes. Hopefully, this will not be necessary.

Course Requirements:

Your grade in this class will be determined from the following requirements:

10% Summary Paper

10% Critique

20% Film Noir Synthesis

25% The Glass Key Synthesis

25% Research Paper

10% Class Participation

Five Major Papers:

For this course, you will write five graded papers. (Please do not use fonts that are difficult to read or bigger than 12 pt. and please STAPLE your papers.) You must submit all five papers in order to pass this course. You may submit rough drafts or other prewriting material for commentary.

Class Participation:

This part of your grade will be determined by participation in in-class writings, discussions, and group activities.

Deadlines:

Your papers are due at the beginning of class on the date due. If you turn in the paper after the deadline, I’m under no obligation to grade it until my grades are due at the end of the quarter. If you want to know your grades on your papers and to use my comments to improve subsequent papers, you’ll turn in your essays on time.

Paper Expectations:

I expect your papers to demonstrate proficiency in the six major areas of writing (Higher Order Concerns)—Purpose, Audience, Thesis, Development, Focus, and Organization. I also expect competency in grammar and mechanics (Later Order Concerns), but the majority of your grade will be based on the higher order concerns.

Guide to Higher Order Concerns and Lower Order Concerns

All of your writing in this course will be based on pieces you read for class. Many of these pieces will be more difficult than the kind of reading you’re used to. Failure to fully understand the material will hinder your ability to write about it. You may consider visiting the Reading Assistance Center for help in improving your reading comprehension skills.

Additional expectations will be discussed with each separate assignment.

Academic Integrity:

The goal of this course is to improve your writing. Thus, you will only benefit from the course if you turn in your own work. Turning in someone else’s work as your own is a violation of COD’s plagiarism policy and will result in failure of this course. We will discuss how to incorporate source materials into your paper and document them during this course. Should you have a question regarding using sources, I encourage you to visit the writing center and/or see me.

I have failed and will fail students for intentional plagiarism. If you intentionally plagiarize, I will find out and I will fail you. To cheat successfully requires more effort than simply doing the assignments on your own. If you’re smart enough to cheat and get away with it, you’re smart enough to get a good grade without cheating.

View the full plagiarism policy

Attendance:

I have no set attendance policy. Be aware that excessive absences will negatively affect your class participation grade. Considering this class meets only once a week, please make every effort to attend each session, as one absence can put you a whole week behind.

Extra Credit:

I do not regularly allow students opportunities to use extra credit to make up for missed class sessions or assignments or for poor performance on regular assignments.

Withdrawal:

I will give my permission to withdraw throughout the quarter for any reason. If you don’t think you can complete the class, I would hope you would drop within the first few weeks, so you don’t waste my time and your money. If you remain in the class until after the last day for automatic withdrawal, I would hope you would have the fortitude to complete the class.

Course Schedule (Subject to Change)

1/5 Intro to Class. Summary. Incorporating sources. Summary Paper Assigned. Summary.

1/12 Critique. Logical Fallacies. Critique Paper Assigned. Reading Due: Behrens, Rosen, and Beedles Ch. 1 and Appendix; Silver and Ursini 17-25. Summary Paper Due.

1/19 Reading Due: Behrens, Rosen, and Beedles Ch. 2; Ebert "The Big Heat," "The Big Sleep," "Detour," "Double Indemnity," "Laura," "The Maltese Falcon," "Out of the Past," and "Touch of Evil."

1/26 Reading Due: Behrens, Rosen, and Beedles Ch. 4. Film Noir Synthesis assigned. Critique Due.

2/2 Reading Due: Silver and Ursini 27-77.

2/9 Reading Due: Silver and Ursini 77-127.

2/16 Film: The Glass Key (1935); The Glass Key Paper Assigned. Reading Due: Behrens, Rosen, and Beedles Ch 5&6. Film Noir Synthesis Due.

2/23 Discussion: The Glass Key; Film: The Glass Key (1942); Reading Due: The Glass Key; "The Glass Key: The Original and Two Copies," by Saul N. Scher.

3/2 Research Paper Assigned. Gathering and using sources. Reading Due: Behrens, Rosen, and Beedles Ch. 7; The Glass Key Paper Due.

3/9 Research on the web. Research problems. Preparing the works cited and annotated bibliography.

3/16 Research Paper Due.

3/20 Classes End.

Course Reserves: The Big Heat (VHS, DVD); The Big Sleep (VHS, DVD); Detour (VHS, DVD); Double Indemnity (VHS, DVD); Laura (VHS); The Maltese Falcon (VHS, DVD); Out of the Past (VHS); Touch of Evil (VHS, DVD)

Some Useful Websites:

Film Noir:

Filmsite.org

Film Noir

"10 Shades of Noir"

Writing:

Purdue Online Writing Lab

The Nuts and Bolts of College Writing

A Guide for Writing Research Papers

Plagiarism Defined