2/20         Review of the skills learned in the first semester

                Comparison and Contrast (1)

                “Explaining by Means of Comparison and Contrast” (Patterns, pp. 143-49)

                “Of Youth and Age” (Norton, pp. 314-15)

2/27         Comparison and Contrast (2)

                “Can a Body Meet a Body Coming through the Wire” (Contemporary, pp. 374-77)

                *Exercises 9.1, 9.2, and 9.3 (“Some Basic Editing Terms,” pp. 327-32)

3/6           Evaluating your readings

                “Evaluating Reading Selections” (Pt II, chap. 6, pp. 200-08)

                #Presentation of some possible topics for the chosen course

                *Exercises 10.1, 10.2, 11.1, and 11.2 (“Sentence fragments,” pp. 333-36; “Fused Sentences and Comma Splices,” pp. 337-40)

3/13         #Presentation of the selected reading(s) for your comparison-contrast essay

                *Exercises 12.1, 12.2, and 12.3 (“Consistency in Verb Tense and Verb Voice,” pp. 341-46)

3/20         Comparison and Contrast (3)

                “Why do we Get to Laugh at Fat Guys?” (Contemporary, pp. 71-72)

                #Upload the topic, the point of contrast, two to three differences, and the central idea for your comparison-contrast essay-draft

                *Exercises 13.1, 13.2, and 13.3 (“Subject-Verb Agreement,” pp. 347-52)

3/27         Comparison and Contrast (4)

                “Searching Online May Make You Think You’re Smarter than You are” (pp. 299-301)

                *Exercises 14.1, 14.2, and 14.3 (“Unclear Pronoun Reference,” pp. 353-59)

                #Upload the topic, the point of contrast, two to three differences, and the central idea for your comparison-contrast essay-revised

4/10         Comparison and Contrast (5)

                *Comparison and contrast Essay-draft

                *Exercises 15.1, 15.2, and 15.3 (“Pronoun Case,” pp. 360-66)

4/17         Midterm Examination

4/24         Classification (1)

                “Analyzing a Subject by Classification” (Patterns, pp. 89-94)

                “What, Me? Showing Off?” (Patterns, pp. 97-103)

                *Exercises 16. 1 and 16.2 (“Misplaced and Dangling Modifiers,” pp. 367-71)

5/1           Classification (2)

                “Are You Living Mindlessly” (pp 430-33)

                *Comparison and contrast essay-revised

                *Exercises 17.1, 17.2, and 17.3 (“Comma Usage,” pp. 373-80)

5/8           #Presentation of the chosen reading(s) for your classification essay

                *Exercises 18.1 and 18.2 (“Semicolons and Colons,” pp. 381-83)

5/15         Classification (3)

                “Three Passions I have Lived for” (pp. 45-46)

                *Exercises 19.1, 19.2, 20.1, and 20.2 (“The Apostrophe,” pp. 385-87; “Quotation Marks,” pp. 389-90)

                #Upload the topic, the principle of classification, the headings for three groups, and the central idea for your classification essay-draft

5/22         Writing based on your readings

                “Synthesizing Ideas from Reading Selections” (Pt. II, chap. 7, pp. 237-44)

                #Upload the topic, the principle of classification, the headings for three groups, and the central idea for your classification essay-revised

                *Exercises 21.1 and 21.2 (“Titles, Capitalization, and Numbers,” pp. 391-94)

5/29         Classification (4)

                “Mother Tongue” (Norton Sampler, pp. 132-39)

                *Exercises 22.1, 22.2, and 22.3 (“Weak Subjects and Verbs,” pp. 395-99)

                *Classification essay-draft

6/5           Classification (5)

                *Exercises 23.1, 23.2, 23.3, and 23.4 (“ESL Issues,” pp. 401-06)

6/12         Final Examination

6/19         Critical Thinking Skill Tests

                *Classification essay-revised

Course requirements

1. Attendance and participation in class discussion are essential.  Students who have four or more than four absences, excused or not, will fail this course.

2. All reading assignments must be finished as instructed BEFORE class for discussion.

3. Students need to bring a notebook to class.

4. 3C products can be used only for the quiz or a quick check for vocabulary.

5. No late exercise will get full credits; late exercises will be penalized or rejected at the instructor’s discretion.

6. Students who cheat in exams or plagiarize will fail this course and be subject to disciplinary action.

Grading:

1. Class attendance and discussion: 15%

2. Writing Exercises: 50%

3. Quizzes: 15%

3. Midterm and Final Examination: 20%

McDonald, Stephen, William Salomone, Sonia Gutiérrez, and Martin Japtok.  The Writer's Response: A Reading-Based Approach to Writing.  Sixth Edition.  Cengage Learning, 2017. (900è765)

Dictionary of Common Errors.  Eds. N. D. Turton and J. B. Heaton.  Second Edition.  England: Longman, 1996. (https://ia903109.us.archive.org/33/items/longmandictionaryofcommonerrors_201911/Longman%20Dictionary%20Of%20Common%20Errors.pdf)

Bibliography for the readings

Schwegler, Robert A.  Patterns of Exposition. Seventeenth Edition.  New York: Longman, 2004.

Peterson, Linda H., John C. Brereton, and Joan E. Hartman, eds.  The Norton Reader: an Anthology of Nonfiction Prose.  Shorter 10th Edition.  New York: Norton, 2002.

Colley, Thomas, ed.  The Norton Sampler: Short Essays for Composition.  Sixth Edition.  New York: Norton, 2003.

Goshgarian, Gary, ed.  The Contemporary Reader.  Eighth Edition.  New York: Longman, 2005.

Suggested:

Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary.  2^nd Edition.  Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2005. Print. ($850è723)

Chalker Sylvia.  English Grammar: Word by Word.  Hong Kong: Nelson, 1990.  (300è255)

Collins Cobuild Advanced Dictionary of American English.  Boston: Harper Collins P, 2007. Print.  ($980è500)

Oxford English Dictionary.  Oxford: Oxford: UP, 2013.  Web.