ENGL C1000: Academic Reading and Writing

Professor Gary Enns

Introduction

Welcome to the liquid syllabus of English C1000! Consider this page an early jumpstart to your semester, providing you an opportunity to preview the class and to dive into a few first assignments if you so choose. Reading through this page is your first bold step on the road to developing strong academic reading, critical thinking, and writing skills.

My name is Gary Enns, and I am your instructor and coach. If you need anything or have any questions, large or small, don't hesitate to reach out! I am here to help you succeed. You will find my college contact information through the Cerro Coso directory.

Here is a little about myself: I am a creative writer and an avid reader, local stage actor, traveler, backpacker, and tennis player, among many other things. I received a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville and a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from California State University, Fresno. Some of my stories and poems have appeared in journals such as Granta, Crazyhorse, The Missouri Review, Southern Humanities Review, The Wayfarer, and others. For more on my travels and writing, visit GaryEnns.com, and feel free to follow my public-facing Instagram, @Gary.S.Enns.

To learn more about this course, scroll down. For a quick start into the first weeks' assignments and some great literature from the semester, visit Getting Started and Monster Works. For the course's academic honesty policy, including AI usage, see Academic Honesty.

Gary Enns

About the Course

In this course, students receive instruction in academic reading and writing, including writing processes, effective use of language, analytical thinking, and the foundations of academic research. Students critically read and write primarily expository and argumentative texts that respond to a variety of rhetorical situations and contexts and incorporate college-level research. Reading selections include a group of culturally diverse writers.

Monsters Everywhere

Our overarching theme for the semester is monsters and monster theory, meaning you will be reading numerous fascinating essays exploring questions such as

Why do we create monsters?
Are monsters animal or human?
How to monsters reflect their times?
What is the attraction of monsters?
Is the monster within us?

Concentrating on an overarching theme creates unity and focus as you develop your critical thinking and writing skills and allows you to gather a semester's-worth of new knowledge for your final project, an analysis of a classic monster tale. See the Getting Started page for a list of works to choose from for the final project.

A man on horseback stabbing a monster with a lance, illustration from "The King and His Three Sons.," 1880–1910, José Guadalupe Posada and José Sanchez (CC0, via Wikimedia Commons)

How This Course Works

Major Units

In brief, here are the major units of the class:

MLA (Week 1)
Explaining texts (Weeks 2-4)
Critiquing academic works (Weeks 5-6)
Synthesizing multiple sources (Weeks 7-10)
Analyzing a a complex work (Weeks 11-14)
Final and wrap-ups (Weeks 15-16)

Working Through Material

All that you need for any given week is provided in the weekly Canvas module. Simply move through the items in the module, study, and complete them in order.

For the purpose of this course, weekly modules run from Tuesday to Monday, allowing you the weekend plus a day to complete the work of the module.

Average Week Described

A typical week will consist of written (and often video-accompanied) lessons, a quiz or two (or three), a journal entry focused on the lessons of the week, and a discussion with peers and professor.

Plan ahead for the following due date pattern:

Wednesdays: Most journal entries or quizzes due
Thursdays: First discussion posts due
Sundays: Discussion responses to peers and professor due

Course Requirements

Books

This is a zero textbook cost course, meaning no book purchases are required. Good news! Save your money.

If you would like to purchase a supplemental book that provides further perspectives on the rhetorical strategies of the course, I recommend the following (but again, there is no need to purchase anything!): What It Takes: Academic Writing in College by Laurence Behrens and Leonard J. Rosen, Pearson Education, 2012 (any edition will work).

Technology

To navigate this course and to complete essential assignments, you will need the following:

reliable computer (PC or Apple will do)
up-to-date browser: Mozilla Firefox and/pr Google Chrome are recommended for full Canvas functionality.
word processor: Google Docs is recommended and provided with your college Google account
PDF reader: Adobe Acrobat Reader is free to download.

Active Participation and Attendance Policies

Regular, active participation is expected of all students enrolled in the college. A student shall be dropped by the instructor for lack of active participation prior to the census (20%) date and any time up to the 60% date when the student is not actively participating.

Outcomes and Objectives

Learning Outcomes

This course prepares you to

Read analytically to understand and respond to diverse academic texts.
Compose thesis-driven academic writing that demonstrates analysis and synthesis of sources as appropriate to the rhetorical situation.
Demonstrate strategies for planning, outlining, drafting, revising, editing, and proofreading written work.

Course Objectives

More specifically, this course teaches you to

Read and analyze criticality college-level arguments.
Evaluate college-level arguments.
Critically engage with scholarly source material.
Construct well-written, engaging academic essays.
Follow the stages of the writing process.
Adhere to standard English grammar conventions.

Getting Started

To jump into the first weeks' assignments early and to to begin reading/listening to some great monster stories, visit the Getting Started and Monster Works pages.

Academic Honesty

For an explanation of this course's plagiarism and artificial intelligence policies, visit the Academic Honesty page.

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