Syllabus

English 100 – Integrated Reading and Composition

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3 Credits/ 6 Hours

Hostos Community College, CUNY                                          Instructor: Prof. Krystyna Michael

Meeting times: M/ W 12:30pm – 3:15pm                                                                    Office: B 520

Meeting location: B 511                                                            Office Hours: M/W 11am-12:30pm

Semester: Fall 2023                                                                    Email: kmichael@hostos.cuny.edu

Prerequisite/Corequisite

Placement

Course Description

ENG 100 integrates core reading and writing skills. This foundational course develops students’ reading, composition, and revision skills so they will be able to produce the essays expected of students who successfully complete ENG 110, Expository Writing. Students will learn how to use readings and discussion as the foundation for expository essays and research projects. Students will be introduced to the use of print and online secondary sources. On completion of the course, students will be able to read and write critically about a variety of texts, integrating their own ideas with those of the readings. This course combines in one semester the work of developmental writing/developmental reading and ENG 110. Students who pass ENG 100 will have fulfilled the requirements of ENG 110.

Course Text(s) and Material(s)

This course is a zero textbook course. All readings and materials will be available on our course website on the CUNY Academic Commons.

Student Learning Objectives

In this course, students will

  • Read and listen critically and analytically, i.e., identifying an argument’s major assumptions and assertions, tone and attitude, and evaluating its supporting evidence;
  • Write clearly and coherently in varied, academic formats (such as formal essays, research papers, and reports) using standard English and appropriate technology to critique and improves one’s own and other’s texts;
  • Demonstrate research skills using appropriate technology, including gathering, evaluating, and synthesizing primary and secondary sources;
  • Support a thesis with well-reasoned arguments, and communicate persuasively across a variety of contexts, purposes, audiences, and media.
  • Formulate original ideas and relate them to the ideas of others by employing the conventions of ethical attribution and citation;

Pathways Learning Outcomes

ENG 100 Pathways Learning OutcomesTitle and Brief Description* of Assignments that Address These Outcomes
Read and listen critically and analytically, including identifying an argument’s major assumptions and assertions and evaluating its supporting evidence. Essay 1, Digital Research Essay 2, Final Exam
Write clearly and coherently in varied, academic formats (such as formal essays, research papers, and reports) using standard English and appropriate technology to critique and improve one’s own and others’ texts. Essays, journal entries, in-class writing assignments
Demonstrate research skills using appropriate technology, including gathering, evaluating, and synthesizing primary and secondary sources. Digital Research Essay
Support a thesis with well-reasoned arguments, and communicate persuasively across a variety of contexts, purposes, audiences, and media. Essay 1, Digital Research Essay 2, Essay 3, Final Exam
Formulate original ideas and relate them to the ideas of others by employing the conventions of ethical attribution and citation. Essay 1, Digital Research Essay 2, Final Exam
*Descriptions below grade breakdown

Americans With Disabilities Act Statement

As required by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, reasonable accommodations are provided to ensure equal opportunity for students with verified disabilities. If you have a disability that requires accommodations, contact the Accessibility Resource Center [https://www.hostos.cuny.edu/Administrative-Offices/Accessibility-Resource-Center-(ARC)] (Building D, Room 101-L) at (718) 518-4454 (Voice/TTY).

If you are already registered with the ARC and have a letter from them verifying that you are a student with a disability, please present the letter to the instructor as soon as possible. The instructor will work with you and the ARC to plan and implement appropriate accommodations.

Grading

Students must perform all work adequately and in a timely manner in order to receive a passing grade. Each student will be given equal consideration regardless of need, personal situation, GPA, program requirements, etc. Final grades are A, A-, B+, B, B-, C+, C, D, F, WU, INC. Further information about assessment policies and grades at Hostos is available on the college website.

  • Essay 1: Who is Hostos? (3 pgs); 20%
  • Digital Research Essay 2: Alternative Mapping (3 pgs); 30%
  • Reflective Essay 3: What Have I learned? (3 pgs); 15%
  • Journal Entries, quizzes, and other assignments; 15%
  • In-Class Writing and Participation: 10%
  • Final Exam (3 pgs): 10%

Explanation of Graded Components

Essays 1 and 3

These are formal academic essays that will be argument-driven (i.e. have a thesis) and include an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Learning to write an academic essay is the whole point of this class, so much of our focus in class will be on the mechanics and strategies that will help you learn how to write an effective essay for me and for the rest of your college career. Writing effective essays will be vital for you to succeed in college, and the skills of essay writing – organizing ideas, using evidence, writing with clarity – will serve you in whatever career you decide to go into after college, so it’s really important we set a strong foundation in this class. You will get the essay prompt for each essay with ample time, and the specifics of each essay will be discussed at length in class. Essay prompts are posted to the “Essay Prompts and Rubrics” page of the CUNY Academic Commons course site. We will also be working on writing as a process, so each essay will go through several steps such as brainstorming, outlining, drafting, peer-review, and revising. All formal essays should be formatted according to MLA guidelines and should include in-text citations and a Works Cited page. You are highly encouraged to go to the Writing Center regularly. You can make a recurring appointment at the Writing Center, or you can make individual appointments to help with particular assignments. The Writing Center has tutors available to help with all stages of writing including understanding the prompt, getting started, brainstorming, outlining, drafting, revising, etc. The Writing Center tutors will not check your grammar, but they can help with clarity and structure. They’re an amazing resource!! Make use of them!!!

Digital Research Essay 2:

An important learning outcome of this course is that you acquire research skills. We will be working with a librarian to get you acquainted with doing academic research at Hostos, and you will complete a research assignment in which you will create an alternative map for a neighborhood you know well.  

Journal Entries:

You will write a 250 word journal entry each week, due on Wednesday before midnight. Journal entries are submitted through Blackboard and are private; only I can read them. They are a place for you to reflect on anything related to the course, your other classes, or education in the broadest sense. You can use this space to write notes about your reading, to ask questions about things you are not clear about, to reflect on your other classes, education in general whatever you want! The goal here is that you practice writing; it is based on research that shows that increasing the quantity of writing increases the quality of writing over time. You will not be graded on your grammar or on the development of your ideas. You will be graded on effort. Full credit for writing 250 words and showing effort, partial credit for writing fewer than 250 words, and no credit for not completing the assignment.

In-Class Writing and Participation:

Active participation is vital for success in this class. Writing is at base an exchange of ideas, and it is something that is never actually done alone. Most writing begins with spoken discussion, and writing as a process moves through many stages of collaborative editing and feedback. We will be working to build an open and collaborative writing community in this classroom, so your daily participation is vital to your and the class as a whole’s success. Participation includes speaking during class discussion, volunteering to read out loud, working in group activities, reporting back about group work, etc. I am looking for your earnest engagement with our class activities here, and will be assigning a grade for participation based on my perception of your involvement in the class. We will be doing in-class writing and/ or reading in almost every class session. This will range from free-writing to drafting formal assignments to writing a script for your GSACS exchange. In-class writing gives me the opportunity to check in with you on a one-on-one basis and allows you to get started on assignments or with concepts we are practicing and to ask for help as you get stuck. Some of this in-class writing I will collect, sometimes to give feedback, but all of it is graded based on effort. Even when I am not collecting your in-class writing, I mark down my perception of your effort on the assignment for that day.

Final Exam:

There will be a final exam essay during finals week. It is a common final, shared by the entire course level and will be decided upon by the department later on in the semester. We will cover the exam reading together prior to the exam period, but you will only get the exam question on your exam day.          

Deadline to withdraw from course without a grade of “W”: 09/14/23

Deadline to withdraw from course with a grade of “W”: 12/11/23

A General Note about Grades at CUNY

  • The “WU” grade: According to CUNY policy, a “WU” is “to be assigned to students who participated in an academically related activity at least once, completely stopped participating in academically related activities any time before the culminating academic experience of the course, i.e. final exam, final paper, etc., and did not officially withdraw.”
  • “F” versus “WU” grades: According to the CUNY policy, “A WU grade should never be given in place of an ‘F’ grade. The ‘F’ grade is an earned grade based on poor performance and the student not meeting the learning objectives/outcomes of the course throughout the entire academic term/session. If the student has participated in an academically related activity at least once or if there is documented evidence of the student’s participation in a course, and he/she has ceased participating in the course, at the end of the term, the unofficial withdrawal grade reported must be a ‘WU.’ When a student does not officially withdraw from a course and fails to complete the course requirements, the instructor assigns the ‘WU’ grade on the final grade roster.”
  • The “D” grade: A student that earns a “D” grade is entitled to receive a “D.” Our departmental research indicates that students who receive “WU” and “F” grades in composition courses have a 5% chance of graduating whereas those who receive “D” grades have much better outcomes.

Writing Format Requirements

All work must be typed, double-spaced, with a font size of 12; margins should be 1-inch. The student’s name, instructor’s name, course title, and due date should be at the top of the first page.

It is very important that you learn how to attribute and cite references in this class. We will be using MLA style guide to format our in-text citations and Works Cited Page. An excellent guide for MLA in-text citations and Works Cited page can be found at the Purdue Owl Website.

Course Policies

Communication

Emails sent from personal addresses have the potential to get placed into the spam folder by the Hostos Email System. It is suggested that students use their Hostos email to contact me. For the quickest response to your email queries, use the following template for the subject of the email: “ENG100: _______.”

WhatsApp

I’ve set up a WhatsApp group for our class to act as an informal meeting space and to serve as a means for our classroom community to grow. You can join the group at the following link, or ask me to add you: https://chat.whatsapp.com/J5ujLybFkeeDVwlU9BGtI9. You can ask me or each other questions in the Whatsapp group, discuss the reading, continue class discussion, check in about any upcoming assignments, and I’ll send any urgent last minute announcements (i.e. the train is delayed! Or my daughter just threw up so class is canceled!!) there, as well as through Blackboard announcements. Feel free to reach out to each other and start side-bar conversations that you do not include me in as well – one of the most important tools for success that you will have in your education journey is each other! A community that is working towards the same goal is key for success in motivating you when you are feeling lax, reminding you about deadlines and opportunities, and providing a sounding board for ideas or peer review. Start forging connections and friendships in all of your classes!!

Blackboard Announcements:

I will send out announcements on Blackboard regularly to remind you of upcoming assignments, provide important information and reminders, and to give general feedback. This is also where I will announce any last-minute changes like a surprise extension on a paper or that class is unexpectedly canceled. Blackboard announcements get sent to the email that you have associated with Blackboard, so make sure that your Blackboard email is up to date and that you check the email associated with Blackboard regularly. You can also get the Blackboard App for your phone. When you have the Blackboard App for your phone, you will receive announcements as a push notification. To check or change which email you have associated with Blackboard, go the Blackboard Home Page and search for the “Tools” module. In the “Tools” module, click on “Update Email.” You will get the fastest response to quick questions by writing to me on WhatsApp. For longer missives or by personal preference, Email is another option. My email address is kmichael@hostos.cuny.edu; you can expect a response within 24 hours during the week or on Monday if you reach out over the weekend. If it takes longer than that, please re-send! Because your email probably got lost in the fray.

Office Hours

Office hours are for YOU! It’s your time. Come to my office hours for any reason concerning the class. 

In-Person Attendance Policy

Students are expected to participate in all class meetings in the courses for which they are registered. Classes begin at the times indicated in the official schedule of classes. Arrival in class after the scheduled starting time constitutes lateness.

The maximum number of absences is limited to 15% of the number of scheduled class hours per semester, and a student absent more than the indicated 15% is deemed excessively absent. Participation is monitored from the first official day of classes. In the case of excessive absences or lateness, the instructor has the right to lower the grade, assign a failing grade, or assign additional written work or readings.

Absences due to late registration, change of program, or extenuating circumstances, will be considered on an individual basis by the instructor.

Participation

As a member and participant in an active learning community, students are responsible for actively contributing to the life of the course. Active participation may include asking questions relevant to our readings, offering personal analysis or opinion, reading aloud excerpts from materials, or discussing course content in a remote medium, such as the CUNY Academic Commons blog posts.

Late Work

The most effective way to successfully complete this course is to submit assignments on time. However, life can happen and can happen at the worst time. I am willing to accept late work if a schedule can be created that works for both of us. At the end of the semester, students will have the opportunity to revise an assignment to improve the grade.

Academic Integrity

As members of a learning community, students are responsible for understanding and following the Hostos College policies on academic integrity [https://bit.ly/3hK4vxH], including cheating and plagiarism.

College Resources

Hostos Writing Center

The Hostos Academic Learning Center offers students one-on-one and small-group tutoring as well as in-center workshops and online writing resources. In order to maximize student potential in this course, frequent visits to the Writing Center (located within HALC) are encouraged.

Carlos E. González Counseling Center

Personal issues may impact academic performance. The Counseling Center provides on-going personal and academic counseling on an individual and group basis. Counseling is provided in a private and supportive environment in which students may focus on academic and career issues, family problems, personal development concerns and other matters of importance to them.

Hostos One Stop Center

One Stop offers supportive services to ensure that students have a successful college experience and are able to complete their degree.

Our One Stop Center provides FREE referrals to services that can help address the needs of Hostos students so that they can remain in school and succeed academically.

Located in the Savoy Building (1st floor intake), and organized by Madeline Cruz, the Center offers the following freebenefits screenings: food stamps, Medicaid, housing, public assistance, social security, disability SSI, school lunch, transportation, mental health care, domestic violence services, foster-care placement, food vouchers, debt solution, credit report, financial planning, maintaining small business, free tax preparation, legal advice and much more.

Walk-ins are accepted. Appointments can be scheduled by calling our One Stop Center at (718) 319-7981.

Accessibility Resource Center

The Accessibility Resource Center provides essential support for students who have documented disabilities. Students using ARC graduate at higher rates, have higher GPAs than the average Hostos student, and get help with job placement. Their website reminds us that “Prior documentation such as an Individualized Education Program (IEP) or a history of receiving accommodations from a former school may also be considered when registering for services. If you cannot provide documentation for your disability you are not necessarily excluded from ARC services.”

  • ARC Website [https://www.hostos.cuny.edu/Administrative-Offices/Accessibility-Resource-Center-(ARC)]
  • Office: 120 Walton Ave., D-101L
  • (718) 518-4454
  • arc@hostos.cuny.edu