The following descriptions of individual courses and sections supplement the
general catalog descriptions.
Most, but not all, sections of English 100 are described here. For the
complete registration listings with CRNs, see the
official schedule.
“For whatever time we have left, let us all commit to saying exactly what we mean. Using language in a historically conscious, purposeful, precise, and thoughtful manner is well worth the effort.” - Kanalu Young (1954-2008)
The primary purpose of the class is to improve each student’s ability to read, write, and research. A secondary goal is for students to reflect on the serious issues affecting Hawai‘i and the Pacific. We will be studying how colonialism has shaped land, language and literature, as well as the efforts by communities to resist. This class provides the opportunity for students to reflect on the value of Hawai‘i, the impact of our choices, and the many creative solutions we can explore for a more decolonized future.
Great writing takes hard work, but it can also be deeply rewarding. Students will write three short papers and one research essay, and will receive lots of practice and guidance along the way. Assignments also include: two in-class presentations, regular posting to Laulima, and one review of a play or film. Class time will include: short lectures, small group work, grammar quizzes, guest speakers and films. Near perfect attendance and lively discussion are required.
REQUIRED READING: The Value of Hawai‘i: Knowing the Past, Shaping the Future (Howes and Osorio, eds.) – available at Revolution Books. Other reading assignments will be available on Laulima.
Everyday we write.
Whether we write a new status update for our Facebook accounts, compose a quick
email to a friend, think up a few new song lyrics while singing in the shower
and then jot them down later, or write an essay for a school assignment, we all
write. In this class, I want us all to see that writing is a task that we
continually use to make meaning of our world and to communicate those
newly-made meanings to others.
Connecting writings’ important purpose with the acts of reading and
writing that make up our daily lives and with our own actions for social
change, I, ultimately, desire to illustrate within this class that writing
makes a tremendous difference.
Course Objectives:
To continually
develop and refine writing skills by practicing with various written forms,
including creative journal entries, blogs, journalism articles, personal
narratives, poems, and song lyrics.
To become skilled
in crafting the organization, content, and mechanics of the critical analysis
and research essay forms.
To cultivate
close, careful reading skills through the analysis and discussion of various
texts including news articles, blogs, photographs, memoirs, short stories,
poems, song lyrics, essays, and the novel.
Assignments:
There are 4 Major
writing assignments including a personal narrative, a journalism article, a
critical analysis paper, and a final research paper. You will also be required
to complete a Social Action Project and several short writing responses both
inside and outside of class. All of the assignments can be revised within this
course, and included in the final portfolio for a higher grade. The aim of this
course is to focus on the progression of writing and the final grade is based
on that progression.
Course Texts & Supplies:
English 1A Course Reader (available for
purchase at Professional Image Printing)
We live in a media centered world that
inundates us with information from television, internet, radio, digital
devices, and books. We are all readers and writers, but how often are we
conscious of our positions, or our interactions in this environment? How often
do we view reading and writing as tools from a skill set necessary to succeed
in a media saturated world?
The primary goal of this course is to provide
first year students with the tools to prepare you for your careers as college
writers and readers. We will examine how to be an active and critical reader of
the information we receive on a daily basis. In this course, we will look at a
variety of texts from rap lyrics and slam poetry to television and graphic
novels. We will question our assumptions, as we look at this material. We will
study our communication styles, and we will attempt to look at the goals and
methods found behind the continuous stream of words and images we entertain for
most of our waking lives. Be prepared to discuss issues that are sometimes
perceived as controversial in our society.
COURSE WORK:
Assignments will include one 5 page paper and
one 15 page research paper that will be broken down into three to four parts.
Revision, with the intention of asking you to re-think your writing, and how
you are conveying your ideas, will be an expected part of this course. Expect
to do at least one oral presentation, and you will also contribute to a weekly
blog. Posting to the blog 12 hours prior to class time is mandatory on days
reading assignments are due. You will also be asked to submit a review of
one live performance that occurs during the semester. This could be a play,
poetry reading, or concert. Attendance and participation will be a significant
part of your final grade.
REQUIRED TEXTS:
Readings will be from photocopies and digital
files provided by the instructor, and a course reader available for purchase at
Professional Image.
There are two purposes for this class. One is to learn writing techniques that carry over to other courses or work tasks. The other is to learn about the power of language, for good or for ill: how it can dazzle and delight us, but also, if we don’t question it, how it might manipulate us.
To learn about the power of language, we'll read a series of essays on language: language and advertising, language and media, language and prejudice, language and gender, and so on. You will be expected to understand and react to the essays: by occasionally writing summaries, passing quizzes on vocabulary and content, and contributing to oral discussion about the ideas. For your papers, you will be generating ideas within the current language topic, developing your own thesis, organizing, writing rough drafts, and rewriting. Students will create about six 2-3-page papers and a research paper of 3-5 pages (using library print and online sources). We’ll read drafts aloud to peers.
A Course Reader will be available from Professional Image. The one book, Lester Faigley’s LITTLE PENGUIN HANDBOOK: MLA UPDATE, will be available from Revolution Books.
This will be the best writing class you've ever taken. Your grade is based on class participation, attendance, a speech, quiz average, and your 5 best essays. Save all handouts, class notes, drafts, and final papers for presentation at semester's end. Your portfolio of these works, organized with a table of contents, will show your commitment to earn an A grade for this course. No books to buy. You will create your own book, the portfolio. Heavy focus on editing. All who enroll must pledge to do A-quality work. Strictly limited enrollment.
Through reflecting on the complex connections between art and politics, we will learn to make
thoughtful rhetorical and linguistic choices as writers, as we explore the boundaries between
critical and creative composition in this class. In reverse order of the traditional freshman
writing course, which moves from personal to sociological writing, we will start with genres
of professional and college-level writing for formal audiences that develop critical thinking,
abstract reasoning, and information retrieval and source analysis skills. Thus, we will first
write an image analysis paper that defines and explores an important philosophical concept, and
next, a persuasive research paper that marshals evidence and argument to get readers to understand
a political position on a social issue. In the second half of the course, we will focus on personal
narrative, using tone, perspective, voice, dialect, characterological details, and world-building
techniques of the creative non-fiction and life writing genres to reflect upon the social dynamics
and moral lessons of your life (including a paper on your roles in a specific group or community
and another on a key incident that transformed your values and beliefs about society).
The schedule of class assignments will not only 'frontload' the more left-brain papers and
exercises in the beginning of the semester--leaving the latter half for relatively fun and
intuitive approaches to writing (as you focus on exams and papers for other classes)--but
move, in terms of genre, from expository to creative composition. This is a hybrid course,
so regular Internet access via Laulima and email checks are expected.
Please pick up these texts:
Buscemi, Santi V., and Charlotte Smith, eds. 75 READINGS: AN ANTHOLOGY, 11TH EDITION. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2010.
Maimon, Elaine P., Janice H. Peritz, and Kathleen Blake Yancey, eds. THE BRIEF MCGRAW-HILL HANDBOOK WITH MLA UPDATE. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2010.
Purposes/Objectives: In this course, we will be exploring the interrelations between identity and writing, identity and the language(s) we speak, identity and the stories we tell (or don't tell). Our readings will include, but not be limited to, a variety of contemporary Hawai’i-centered texts—websites, essays, plays, poems, autobiography, and fiction—by authors who are concerned with these interrelations. You will have the chance to experiment with and respond to these authors' ideas, writing styles, and strategies in your own writing. I have designed this course to give you room to experiment with language and to learn to write with clarity and a sense of purpose. I hope you will develop a sense of the importance and power of writing, both as an individual, and as part of a community of writers.
Essay Assignments: You will write seven essays for this course. One of these will be a revision of a previous writing assignment and one will be an in-class essay. Most of these essays will be quite short (2-4 pp.); one—a research paper—will be longer (8-10 pages) and will allow you to build on previous assignments. I have designed this course to give you room to experiment with different genres and voices: in addition to a research paper, you will write persuasive, analytical, reflective, and autobiographical essays; you also will produce an interview and a book or movie review.
Because I believe that writing is a process that works best communally, I will be placing you in response groups of 3-4 to help each other with your essays.
For each of the writing assignments, you will submit your final, polished draft, along with original sketches, free writings, revised drafts (dated) and assigned peer- and self-evaluations that contributed to your final draft. Because this course will focus on writing as a process, turning in thesis statements, outlines, and rough drafts, when requested to do so, counts as much as meeting deadlines for final drafts.
Grading: Grades will be determined by the following components: essays and writing assignments leading up to essays (70%); response group work, informal writings, and other in-class activities and participation (25%); portfolio (5%). Percentages given here are approximate. Attendance is mandatory; missed classes or failure to attend required conferences will negatively impact your grade.
Tentative List of Required Texts (to be ordered through Revolution Books):
Alani Apio, KAMAU
Craig Howes and Jon Osorio, THE VALUE OF HAWAI'I: KNOWING THE PAST, SHAPING THE FUTURE
This section was erroneously listed here as 11:30-12:20; my apologies for any inconvenience this may have caused you. Stephen Canham, Associate Chair, English.
This course aims to have students produce university-level writing and will involve discussion of notions such as style, register, fluency, and appropriacy, as well as consideration of the role and significance of Standard English, particularly within the context of the university. There will also be a substantial review of grammar.
Core course elements are
an engaged reception of selected works of fiction, non-fiction, and film
an awareness of the varieties of English, their uses and significance
an ability to produce writing appropriate to a particular context and readership
a discussion of, and practice in, Standard English for Academic Purposes.
The class will emphasize analytic and argumentative writing, but elements of creative and personal writing will also be encouraged. There will be several required conferences, and students will receive extensive instructor and peer feedback on as much of their writing as possible.
Final grades will be based on the following:
two research papers (40%)
weekly responses on Laulima (30%)
final drafts (papers and selection of Laulima postings) in a final portfolio (20%)
attendance (10%)
#…Not currently employed by the Department of English R…Retired
