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English 118
Smith College, Fall 2015
Hillyer 109, T Th 910:20
Instructor: Pam Thompson
pthompson@smith.edu
Office: Jacobson Center, Seelye 307
Hours: Tuesday 4:305:30pm, and by appointment
Reading
Writing Papers: A Handbook for Students at Smith College, from
the Jacobson Center
Garners Modern American Usage. Though not required, I strongly
recommend owning this book. Its a great one to have at your
fingertips, to consult about the finer points of English usage.
Other required reading will be handed out in class or posted on
Moodle, including selections from Plato, Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius,
David Foster Wallace, J.K. Rowling, Toni Morrison, Joseph Brodsky,
Lao Tzu, the Bible, Buddhist sutras, Henry David Thoreau, Ralph
Waldo Emerson, Annie Dillard, and Ruth Ozeki. Our selections are
generally brief tastes of larger works, which I hope youll want to go
back to later. If you miss class, be sure to pick up the reading from my
office (if you dont find it posted on Moodle).
Requirements
Writers journal (15% of grade)
This is the courses simplest (or hardest?) requirement. Keep a
journal. Try to make this a daily habit. An entry might be as brief as a
single sentence, but plan to find time every day if only a few
minutes, to sit with pen and paper (or laptop) to ask yourself: What do
I see today? What have I noticed? This is about establishing a habit. A
habit of awareness, of reflection, of commitment to the life of your
mind. Some in-class prompts and responses to reading will be a part
of your journal. I wont read your journal, but I will check periodically
that it exists, and some in-class work and discussion will be drawn
from it; we may sometimes share parts of journal entries in class.
Essays (70% of grade)
Essays during the first weeks of the term will be brief, one-page,
ungraded assignments. The three longer essays are 5-6 pages. Essay
assignments will include a personal piece, an analysis of one (or more)
If you are dissatisfied with any of your final essays, please see me
about revising a third time.
On grading
Worry over grades is a distraction from the central goals of this
course. For that reason, I will not assign letter grades to the courses
opening, brief papers. For the longer essays, I will set expectations for
each paper and comment on how you have met these, generally at
both the draft and final stage. I hope this will give you more useful
feedback to carry forward to your next writing, rather than simply a
letter that makes you feel either proud or dismayedneither of which
is the point! We will discuss this further.
On communication
Please be sure to make use of my office hours, and if you cant meet
then, Im happy to find another time. Email works, too.
On flexibility
The wonderful thing about a class is that we get to go on an
intellectual journey together. With any luck, well end up somewhere
unexpected. To this end, we may have to shift, subtract, or add
readings and/or work. Weekly assignments given on Moodle trump
syllabus.