Sunday, December 19, 2010:
Grades for the semester are posted below, by Student ID number.

As I ran the numbers, a few interesting (that is, horrifying) numbers have come up:

Counting drafts and multiple revisions, I have read 866 essays this semester, 336 here at Vaughn and 530 at LaGuardia.

The number of students earning grades of A or A� is approximately the same as the number of students who withdrew or never attended, roughly 14%.

The number of students earning grades in the B or C range, combined, is approximately the same as those who earned grades of F, or roughly 30%.

Good luck on any remaining finals, and enjoy the break; as Krusty says, have a Merry Christmas, Happy [belated] Hanukkah, Kwazy Kwanzaa, and Terrific Tet!

Sunday, December 12, 2010
As per the schedule, on Tuesday, December 14, there will be an in-class practice essay; Thursday, December 16 is the final exam. In both cases, you will have approximately ninety minutes to write an essay of at least five hundred to six hundred (500-600) words, or at least eight (8) paragraphs, arguing either for or against one of the statements provided. You may use both a dictionary and thesaurus during the practice and the exam, but no other materials, either electronic or hard-copy.

In addition, Tuesday, December 14 is the due date for optional (second) revisions of Essay 4; no work will be accepted after class on Tuesday.

Tuesday, November 30, 2010
The schedule on the main page has been updated, to correct minor typographical errors, to correct missing or outdated links, and to ensure that all changes announced in class have been incorporated. Note that the printable (MS Word) syllabus has not been changed, though.

Saturday, November 6, 2010
All work received before midnight on Friday has been recorded; any work not yet received that was emailed before midnight, according to the time stamp, will be accepted and recorded when it is received. If the time stamp indicates the work was sent after the deadline, it is, of course, ineligible for consideration and will not be counted.

Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Today, �Drafts� of Essay 3 were due in class; any work not received by midnight is, of course, a zero. Note that work must be received, not sent, by the deadline; in addition, if you left anything in my mailbox after 1:30 today, I will not get it until Thursday and it will receive no credit.

As per instructions, �drafts� were supposed to be a thesis and three to five topic sentences, no more. Also, the �drafts� were supposed to be on one of the assigned topics; other topics are not acceptable without prior approval.

Revisions of Essay 2 (optional) are due in class on Thursday; revisions must be substantially revised, not merely �corrected� versions of the original essay (revisions should be based upon the Revising and Editing Checklist and relevant information from class and the textbooks), and must be submitted with the original graded essay attached. Evidence of substantial revision may result in a better grade for the assignment. If you did not submit a completed essay on time, you will receive a grade of 0 and may not submit a �revision�; if you submitted a plagiarized essay or one on an unapproved topic, you may submit a new essay for partial credit. As with revisions, however, you must include the original graded essay.

Be sure to read �Is Sex all That Matters?� by Joyce Garity (Langan 6 ed. 717-720; 7 ed. 767-770; 8 ed. 767-770) for Thursday; I am thinking of having students spend the period writing in response to the essay, while I meet individually with them one at a time, as we did on October 13.

Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Those who bother look at the syllabus should know already that the essay for tomorrow is not in the textbook; please print out a copy to bring to class with you. The essay, Suzanne Britt�s �Neat People vs. Sloppy People,� is available here, here, and now here (in Microsoft Word format). I may give extra credit for those who print out and bring their own copy, or we might have a quiz on the material, or there might be an in-class assignment...maybe all of the above!

Wednesday, October 13, 2010
First, remember that �drafts� of Essay 2 are due in class tomorrow, Thursday, October 14; final essays are due on Thursday, October 21. You must bring your �draft� with you to class; I will be reviewing them in class and returning them tomorrow, and I will not accept any late work.

To keep things mixed up a bit, tomorrow we will do a combination of in-class work and conferences. You will have work to complete, while I meet individually with students. Bring your graded copy of Essay 1 if you wish to discuss an optional revision; essays may be revised and resubmitted by Tuesday, October 19, but only after meeting with me to discuss revisions. Revisions must be substantially revised, not merely �corrected� versions of the original essay (revisions should be based upon the Revising and Editing Checklist and relevant information from class and the textbooks), and must be submitted with the original graded essay attached. Evidence of substantial revision may result in a better grade for the assignment. If you did not submit a completed essay on time or submitted a plagiarized essay, you will receive a grade of 0 and may not submit a �revision.� (see class Plagiarism policy)

Be sure you have read �Seven Ways to Keep The Peace at Home� by Daniel A. Sugarman (in Langan, 6 ed. 701-707; 7 ed. 750-757; 8 ed. 751-758) for the in-class assignment; it will be more than just the multiple choice Reading Comprehension questions, I promise you.

Thursday, October 7, 2010
As announced in class today, Essay 1 will be returned next week. The due date for Essay 2 has been changed as a result: �drafts� are due in class on Thursday, October 14, and final essays are due on Thursday, October 21.

Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Due to an unplanned illness, Essay 1 will not be returned on Thursday. I should still be able to make it to class tomorrow, but it is not likely that I will finish reading the rest of your papers until Thursday evening or Friday, as I have been unable to do so for the last few days. In addition, I may end up changing the due date for Essay 2 as a result, so students will have enough time to consider their first essays before drafting their second.

Remember to read �How to Make It In College, Now That You�re Here� by Brian O�Keeney for tomorrow (Langan 6 ed. 685-690; 7 ed. 734-742; 8 ed. 734-740); either we will begin with a quiz, or we will finish with exercises (possibly both, although this is not likely).

In addition, the diction homework assignment is due tomorrow (typed, 12-pont Times New Roman, double-spaced) if you did not submit it in class.

Tuesday, October 5, 2010
The Microsoft Word document (fill-in form) for the diction homework assignment is located here. This is due in class on Thursday, October 7 (typed, 12-pont Times New Roman, double-spaced).

Be sure to read �How to Make It In College, Now That You�re Here� by Brian O�Keeney for Thursday (Langan 6 ed. 685-690; 7 ed. 734-742; 8 ed. 734-740)

Essay 1 will be returned on Thursday, October 7 (one week after it was submitted); if you did not attach to the peer-reviewed draft from Thursday, September 23 when you submitted your essay last week, bring it to class tomorrow.

Monday, October 4, 2010
As announced in class last week, be sure to bring a college-level (paperback) dictionary and/or thesaurus and/or laptop or iPad or smart phone tomorrow; in addition to discussing Langan 41, 42, 43: Spelling Improvement, Commonly Confused Words,  Effective Word Choice (6 ed. 530-552; 7 ed. 581-603; 8 ed. 589-610), there will be either an in-class assignment or homework on diction that will require you to look things up (words, definitions, and synonyms). You might think about this:

A trio of pestiferous rodentia, of the family Muridae, genus Mus, all equally afflicted with extreme visual impairment: observe their locomotion at high velocity! This afore-mentioned triad pursued the domestic partner of the agricultural worker, who responded in a retaliatory fashion by removing their posterior appendages utilizing a large kitchen implement intended to dismember prepared animals preparatory to consumption. Has such an extraordinary spectacle ever previously intruded itself upon your ocular organs?

Essay 1 will be returned on Thursday, October 7 (one week after it was submitted); if you did not attach to the peer-reviewed draft from Thursday, September 23 when you submitted your essay last week, bring it to class tomorrow.

Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Just a reminder: Essay 1 is due in class tomorrow. The essay must be at least five to six hundred (500-600) words, approximately five to eight (5-8) paragraphs, but no more than five pages. Your essay must be typed (in 12-point Times New Roman font), double-spaced, and attached to the peer-reviewed draft from Thursday, September 23; staple the newer version on top of the older.

If you are looking for announcements from last semester (Spring 2010), please see here.

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