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“Don't tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.”
― Anton Chekhov
Course Description
Course Description
English 1A develops and refines your critical writing, reading, and thinking skills. Through analysis, evaluation and discussion of key examples of strong published writing, typically twenty or more pages a week, you will learn and apply the tools of effective writing to your own original texts through the steps of the writing process. Instruction focusing on annotation and critical reading skills will help you get the most of out your reading. With a focus on how to write powerfully and effectively in an academic community, English 1A will help you develop original pieces of writing that utilize critical research skills, including accessing Sierra College's excellent and extensive library databases, evaluating sources, smoothly integrating and citing outside sources, navigating MLA style, and maximizing academic integrity.
Why this course is useful/important to you.
Why this course is useful/important to you.
The human capacity for language is one of our most amazing gifts. Our words and the ways we use them determine so much about who we are, how we express ourselves, whether we get what we want in the world, and how we come across to others. The ability to assess a situation and an audience and to craft an effective and powerful written response can be a difference-maker in so many areas of our personal and professional lives. At Sierra College, English 1A focuses on understanding how to break down a piece of written text, how to analyze and evaluate what it's trying to do and with what tools, what rules it's following and breaking. English 1A focuses on how to make those choices in your own writing, including bolstering your arguments with the right kinds of researched support, and how to navigate different voice choices that work for different situations. With attention to the kinds of formal writing that empower you as a student and beyond, English 1A will help you maximize our most amazing gift, language.
Textbook and Other Course Materials
Textbook and Other Course Materials
Great news - you don't have to purchase a textbook for this class! I will be providing all the materials you need for the course. All course materials will be located on our Canvas site.
It is common for college composition classes to require that students purchase a text that covers the basic rules of grammar or MLA citation – usually a reference book with the rules you’re expected to pretty much already know. I’m not requiring you to buy such a text. I’ll use links in Canvas and make you aware of other free online and print resources that will help you review these expectations.
Students who have struggled with grammar in the past may wish to purchase a good updated grammar text such as Rules for Writers or the Little Brown Handbook. Students who struggle with MLA citation may wish to purchase the MLA Handbook. Also, for MLA Citation (we’ll due plenty of this), our own Writing Center has a pretty handy overview (scroll down to “Writing Center Handouts”) that they’ve made available to students. The OWL website through Purdue University is also a pretty impressive collection of concepts that are often covered in college composition texts.
Microsoft Office 365
Microsoft Office 365
When you upload documents into Canvas for my class, I do require students to use Word documents or PDFs. Early on in the semester, you’ll need to get used to working in Word. All Sierra College students have Office 365 accounts, which give them the ability to use word documents through MySierra and even to download Office software to their devices. Here’s some information on how to do that:
How do I download Office 365 so I can use Word and Power-Point and stuff?
Google Sites
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