SemesterSpring Semester, 2020
DepartmentProgram(undergraduate level)
Course NameEnglish Elective:Essay_Writing（ETP）
InstructorDAVID ARNOLD GERICH
Credit3.0
Course TypeElective
Prerequisite
Course Objective
Course Description
Course Schedule











每週課程進度與作業要求Course Schedule & Requirements

◎The following schedule will be adjusted to accommodate the progress of the class.


































































































































































週次



Week

課程主題



Topic

課程內容與指定閱讀



Content and Reading Assignment

教學活動與作業



Teaching Activities and Homework

學習投入時間



Student workload expectation

課堂講授



In-class Hours

課程前後



Outside-of-class Hours

9/10

Course Orientation

  • Introduction to the course

  • Getting to know one another through in-class writing and discussion

  • Learning business writing and email correspondence

  • Read assigned texts

  • Revise in-class writing and submit

  • Unit 3 Exercises



 

3

4.5

9/17

Paragraph writing foundation

  • Unit 1~Unit 2 in the textbook




  • Paragraph structure, unity and coherence, and using outside sources

Unit 3 Exercises

3

4.5

9/24

Summarizing and paraphrasing

  • Unit 3 in the textbook

  • How to avoid plagiarism and use outside sources correctly

  • Unit 4 Exercises

3

4.5

10/1

From paragraph to essay

  • Unit 4: Exploring the essay




  • Exercises on sentence structures




  • Begin writing own expository essay

  • Complete the initial pre-writing for the expository essay on benefits



 

3

4.5

10/8

Expository or classification essay



 

  • Writing the body




  • Outlining and analysis of models




  • Developing a classification essay



 

  • Write the expository essay on benefits

3

4.5

10/15

Grammar Workshop – Noun Clauses

  • Analyzing thesis statements and understanding the concept of writing for a target reader

  • Rewriting introductions and conclusions

  • Noun Clauses – Unit 11

Complete Unit 11 Practice Exercises; Unit 5 Preview the model

3

4.5

10/22

Process Essay: Educational and Informative

  • Process speaking activities

  • Learning the differences between educational and informative process essays

  • Practice teaching your reader how to perform a task in both speaking and writing



 

  • Begin research and pre-writing for an educational process essay

  • Unit 5 Practice exercises

3

4.5

10/29

Composing the Process Essay



 

  • Analysis of the model for an educational process essay

  • Unit 5 Exercises

  • Complete the process essay

3

4.5

11/5

Grammar Workshop – Adjective Clauses

  • Editing and revising sentences in the Process Essay

  • Adjective Clauses – Unit 13

  • Complete Unit 13 Practice Exercises; Unit 6 Preview the model

3

4.5

11/12

Cause-Effect Essay

  • Presentation and analysis of cause-effect examples

  • Lecture and sample on cause-effect essays

  • Exercises on cause-effect reasoning



 

  • Unit 6 Exercises and prewriting exercises for a Cause-Effect essay

3

4.5

11/19



 

Cause-Effect Essays

  • The process of composing the Cause-Effect essay step-by-step




  • Models of cause-effect essays

  • Complete the Cause-Effect essay, Prepare for the in-class essay exam

3

4.5

11/26



 

Cause-Effect Essay, In-class Exam

  • Complete a Cause-Effect essay in class, including brainstorm, detailed outline, and essay

 

 

 

12/3



 

Compare Contrast Essay

  • Compare-contrast speaking exercises

  • Using compare-contrast signal words

  • Compare-Contrast essay prewriting exercises

3

4.5

12/10



 

Compare Contrast Essay

  • Unit 7 Exercises

  • Compare and contrast two compare-contrast essays

  • Begin outlining your own

  • Complete the compare-contrast essay

3

4.5

12/17



 

Argumentative Essay

  • Developing an objective approach to considering an argument in speaking and writing

  • Choosing a side to support

  • Learning how to support your argument with basic organization

Research pros and cons for an Argumentative Essay; Rewriting Assignment Due

3

4.5

12/24



 

Argumentative Essay

  • Unit 8 Exercises

  • Analysis of argumentation examples and models

  • Discussion of student essay examples

  • Demonstration and discussion of essay revisions

  • Study for final writing exam

3

4.5

12/31



 

Final writing exam

Write either a Compare-Contrast or Argumentative Essay in class

 

 

 

1/7



 

Make-up Exams and Conferencing

One-on-one discussions about scores, grades, and writing strategies for improvement

 

 

 


 


Teaching Methods
Teaching Assistant
Requirement/Grading

All materials, including the written text, handouts, and any information spoken in class or written on the board, are expected to be reflected in your work. Take notes, and study the textbook and handouts. Keep all of the work you do during the course until after the final grades have been announced. Your final grades will be determined by the following course components:



 




  • Participation (group/pair discussion, peer review, effort on in-class writing): 20%

  • Expository Essay: 15%

  • Process Essay: 15%

  • Cause-Effect Essay: 15%

  • Rewriting Assignment: 10%

  • Final exam (Argumentative Essay or Compare-Contrast Essay): 25%



 



ATTENDANCE, PUNCTUALITY & ASSIGNMENT POLICIES




  • Attendance and punctuality are required for all class sessions. Students who accrue three absences or more will automatically fail the course. If a student is late three times, it will count as one absence.

  • Exams can only be made up or rescheduled for valid reasons (see the University’s policy regarding make up exams).



 



LEARNING TASKS & ASSIGNMENTS



In-class writing exercises and activities



Students will take notes on speaking activities in class as part of prewriting exercises for essays. In class, students must expect to speak English in order to learn and prepare for writing tasks. They may be asked to write a variety of sentences, paragraphs, or brainstorming exercises as part of individual, pair, or group work. These notes will be collected at the end of class for participation credit and count toward the participation grade. Speaking cooperation and a positive learning attitude are vital to receiving a passing score in participation.



Writing assignments



In addition to in-class writing activities, students will complete four different essays in the course of the semester. Progression in learning academic composition structure in this course begins with paragraph structure and the foundational expository/classification essay. Once a foundation of academic writing has been formed, we progress to the Process Essay, and increase to more advanced modes of academic structure with the Cause-Effect Essay, the Compare-Contrast Essay, and finally the Argumentative Essay. The first two essays will be completed for homework using the process method of composition, including prewriting, outlining, and writing the final draft. Students may be asked to review each other’s compositions as part of the peer-editing and revision process. The Cause-Effect Essay and the Final Exam Essay will be written in class as exams.



 



Rewriting Assignment



Students will be given one opportunity to rewrite an entire essay (the Process Essay) that has been returned to them with detailed teacher feedback. All corrections must be written in a different colored pen (not red) directly on the composition that was returned. Then students must rewrite the entire essay by hand, including the detailed outline. Students should follow the comments, suggestions, and corrections of the teacher’s feedback. This assignment will be graded on effort (including corrections on the original essay and handwritten work) as well as the changes made to the essay.



Final exam



For the final exam, students will be tested on their overall improvement of writing throughout the semester as well as their ability to complete an academic essay from blank page to finished product. The exam topic will be either the Compare-Contrast Essay or the Argumentative Essay. Students will write their composition simulating a standardized test, completing a prewriting brainstorm, detailed outline, and essay composition within a time limit.


Textbook & Reference

Textbook:




  • Oshima, Alice (2014). Longman Academic Writing Series 4: Paragraphs to Essays, Fifth Edition



 



Resources:




  • Great Writing: Great Essays 4 (fourth edition) ISBN: 978-1-285-19494-3



Published by: National Geographic Learning/Cengage Learning




  • Dictionary/Thesaurus



http://www.dictionary.com/




  • OXFORD Collocation Dictionary



http://www.freecollocation.com/




  • The Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA)



https://corpus.byu.edu/coca/





https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/


Urls about Course
Attachment