One man that has a mind and knows it, can

always beat ten men who haven’t and don’t.

- George Bernard Shaw

Welcome to English 101! I’m sure you’ll find this course useful, and I hope it will be enjoyable, too.

Every course has its particular goals, and as a student in this course, you should know what our goals are, and how you’ll be showing me that you’ve achieved them. As a student in English 101, you’ll be expected:

1. to learn and apply techniques of critical reading,

2. to learn and apply techniques of correctness in writing Edited American English, and

3. most important of all, to learn and apply the rhetorical principles that will allow you to write clear, coherent, concise and convincing explanations and arguments.

You’ll show that you’ve achieved of these goals by participating in class discussion, completing class exercises, answering questions on quizzes and exams, and writing short impromptu and out-of-class themes.

As a student, you assume responsibilities, including coming to class regularly, preparing for class, and finishing assignments when they’re due.

Attendance is important. I expect you to attend every class—to be in your seat when the class begins, to return to class promptly from breaks, and to remain in class until you are dismissed. Most students meet these expectations. I do understand that the environment here in the institution sometimes makes it difficult for some students to meet these expectations consistently. YOU must understand that the same institutional environment makes it difficult for me to offer makeup work. Out of class work cannot ordinarily substitute for in-class work. Students missing class must therefore ordinarily expect their grades to suffer accordingly; any student missing a significant amount of class work must understand that he may so handicap himself that he cannot pass the course.

Homework is important, too. You’re responsible for getting the assigned reading and writing done on schedule. Since some assignments will be more demanding than others, you should plan ahead so that you can complete assignments when they’re due. If a class is canceled because of the weather or for any other reason, you should work ahead on the course calendar, completing the next scheduled assignment(s) so that we can complete the semester efficiently.

Assignments in this course will carry point values which will tend to increase as you learn more and can do better. I will rank the work I receive by assigning points. Periodically I will total the class’s scores and analyze the distribution of scores so that you can evaluate your progress in the course. At about the mid-point of the semester I will translate your point total into a tentative letter grade and at the end of the course I will again translate your point total into a letter grade.

David Cole

Professor of English

Required Texts

Jacobus, Lee A., A World of Ideas: Essential Readings for College Writers.

5^th Edition. Boston: Bedford, 1998.

Troyka, Lynn Quitman. Simon & Schuster Handbook for Writers. 3^rd Edition. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1993.

Every student should bring both of these texts to every class.

I recommend strongly that every student also either buy or at least secure ready access to a recent edition of a standard college desk dictionary.

Course Calendar

English 101 UW Baraboo Sauk County

Unless and until I tell you something different in class, these will be your assignments for the semester. Note Well: I do expect to add to this schedule of assignments as I learn the strengths and needs of the members of our class. You’ll need to be alert for changes. Note Also: Where assigned reading includes questions and exercises, you do NOT have to write the answers out unless I ask you specifically to do so.

September 5 In Class: Course Introduction; Theme 1, impromptu (writing sample); intonation exercise; grammar exercise; composition discussion.

September 12 Read “Pithing a Frog” and “The Spider and the Wasp,” handouts, and “Of the Principle of the Commercial or Mercantile System, “ World of Ideas, 193-206. Read also “Defining a Sentence” and “Recognizing Subjects and Predicates,” Handbook, 178-180. In Class: Exercises and composition discussion.

September 18 is the last day to add courses.

September 19 Read “The Communist Manifesto,” “The Position of Poverty,” and “Why the Rich are Getting Richer and the Poor Poorer,” World of Ideas, 209-268. Read also “Subject-Verb Agreement,” Handbook, 250-262. In Class: Exercises, essay discussion, Theme 2, impromptu. Theme 3 assigned.

September 26 Theme 3 due. Read “Observation on Egypt” and “From La Relacion,” World of Ideas, 477-508. Read also “Understanding the Reading Process” and “Reading to Learn from Textbooks,” Handbook, 113-118, and “Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement,” Handbook, 262-270. In Class: Exercises and discussion.

October 3 Read “The Pueblos of New Mexico,” World of Ideas, 511-526, and “From the Native’s Point of View,” World of Ideas, 543-562. Read also “Knowing Patterns for Developing a Paragraph” and “Writing Introductory, Transitional, and Concluding Paragraphs,” Handbook, 95-111. In Class: Theme 4, impromptu. Theme 5 assigned.

October 10 Theme 5 due. Read “Territorial Behavior,” handout, and “Women, Sex and Sin,” World of Ideas, 529-541. In Class: Mid-term test.

October 17 Read “Thoughts from the Tao-te-Ching” and “The Qualities of the Prince,” World of Ideas, 17-49. Read also “Reading Critically” and “Using Evidence to Think Critically,” Handbook, 118-131. In Class: Discussion and exercises.

October 24 Read “The Origin of Civil Society” and “The Declaration of Independence,” World of Ideas, 51-80. Read “Avoiding Plagiarism and Using Sources for Quoting, Paraphrasing, and Summarizing” Handbook, 554-572. In Class: Exercises and discussion. Theme 6 assigned.

October 31 Theme 6 due. Read “Ideology and Terror,” World of Ideas, 83-101. Read also “Understanding the Reasoning Process,” Handbook, 133-139. In Class: Video clip, discussion, and exercises.

November 7 Read “From Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas, An American Slave” and “Civil Disobedience,” World of Ideas, 107-148. Read also “Recognizing and Avoiding Logical Fallacies,” Handbook, 139-144. In Class: Discussion and exercises. Theme 7, impromptu.

November 13 is the last day to drop courses without academic penalty.

November 14 Read “Letter from Birmingham Jail” World of Ideas, 151-171. Read also “Thinking about Purposes and Audiences,” Handbook, 2-14. In Class: Exercises and discussion.

November 21 Read “Tragedy and the Emotions of Pity and Fear” and “From An Essay on Criticism,” World of Ideas, 681-712, and short story to be assigned. In Class: Discussion and exercises.

November 28 To Be Assigned.

December 5 Read “Natural Selection” and “Nonmoral Nature,” World of Ideas, 397-429. In Class: Discussion and exercises. Theme 8 assigned.

December 12 Theme 8 due. Classwork to be assigned.

The final exam schedule will be announced later this semester.