1. Instr: Ms. Kelly Seufert Queens College
Office: Klapper 358 Fall 2012
Hours: Monday 12:30-1:30PM English 110-36
Phone: (718) 997-4648 English 110-37
Email: kelly.seufert@qc.cuny.edu
Course Description
ENGL 110. College Writing. 4 hr.; 3 cr. The arts and practices of effective writing and reading in college,
especially the use of language to discover ideas. Methods of research and documentation will be taught,
along with some introduction to rhetorical purposes and strategies. Students will spend one hour per week
conferring with each other or with the instructor about their writing.
This course is part of an FYI cluster focused on NYC Stories. Linked to your UBST 101 course, we will look at
how writers in many fields have discussed the experience of being a New Yorker. New York City is the city
that never sleeps, the shining city by the sea, the belly of the beast, a concrete jungle, and an urban paradise.
Our text covers the “New York experience”: constructing a “New Yorker” identity, recording the immigrant
experience, defining poverty and affluence, confronting violence and resistance, mapping urban education,
and debating current issues. Through our study of this urban literary landscape, we hope to discover more
about who we are, how we came to be that way, and where our future lies.
We will be using Blackboard 9.1 which is accessible through the CUNY Portal @ www.cuny.edu. Check your
access immediately. All technical problems should be addressed to the Office of Converging Technologies
Helpdesk, Dining Hall 151.
NO LATE ASSIGNMENTS. ALL ASSIGNMENTS OTHER THAN BLOGS MUST BE HANDED IN HARDCOPY IN CLASS
AND UPLOADED TO BLACKBOARD BEFORE CLASS TO BE ACCEPTED FOR GRADING.
Course Outcomes
Students actively participating in this course will:
 Competently use the writing process from prewriting strategies through drafting and revision
 Engage in peer critique
 Design and implement an academically sound research plan which identifies a genuine intellectual
question or problem and discusses relevant effectively analyzed evidence.
 Engage sources critically and develop information literacy
 Implement correct Modern Language Association style citation and formatting
Required Texts
But, Juanita and Mark Noonan eds. The Place Where We Dwell: Reading and Writing About New York
City. 2nd
. ed. Kendall Hunt. ISBN 13: 9780757546167
Grade Profile Details
Participation (10 points) Attendance is required to participate in class discussion, recitation and in class
writing. Non-participation includes chronic lateness, silence, text messaging, surfing the net, personal
chatting, taking calls, sleeping and being unprepared for in class writing.
Writing Journal Blog (10 points) Weekly, post one entry (100 words minimum). Write about your writing
practices and challenges, the varying styles of writers we are reading and their levels of effectiveness in
reaching their intended audiences, and/or development as a college writer.
Essays (50 points [2 essays/10 pts ea.; 2 revisions/15 pts ea.]) Each paper should be 4 pages in MLA style.
Essays will be subject to full drafting, peer review and thorough revision. Anyone not fully prepared for
participating in or absent from peer review will lose 5 points from the revision grade automatically.
Final Essay (30 points) The final project will be independently chosen research on a question of genuine
intellectual import regarding a NYC experience topic discussed in our main text for the course. Multiple
reliable scholarly sources will be expected to be incorporated into your argument. Projects must be a
minimum of 8 pages and properly documented in MLA style.
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2. Calendar of Readings and Assignments
Date Readings Due Writing Due
8/27 Course Introduction WRITING SAMPLE
8/29
Section I: Here Is New York 1 New Yorkers Introduction
Colson Whitehead, The Colossus of New York; John Steinbeck, The Making of a New Yorker
BLOG 1
9/3 COLLEGE CLOSED LABOR DAY
9/5 Ralph Ellison, New York, 1936; Anna Quindlen, Pregnant in New York
PAPER 1 PREWRITING
BLOG 2
9/10 James Tuite, The Sounds of the City; Ian Frazier, Take the F; E. B. White, Here Is New York
9/12 PAPER 1 PEER REVIEW CONFERENCES
PAPER 1 DRAFT
BLOG 3
9/17 COLLEGE CLOSED ROSH HASHANAH
9/19 2 Crossings Introduction; Emma Lazarus, The New Colossus; Anzia Yezierska, America and I BLOG 4
9/24 Junot Diaz, New York: Science Fiction; Frances Chung, Yo Vivo En El Barrio Chino REVISION 1
9/26 COLLEGE CLOSED YOM KIPPUR BLOG 5
10/1 Edwidge Danticat, New York Was Our City…; June Jordan, For My American Family…
10/3 Suki Kim, Facing Poverty…; Mohammed Naseehu Ali, My Name’s Not Cool Anymore
PAPER 2 PREWRITING
BLOG 6
10/8 COLLEGE CLOSED COLUMBUS DAY
10/10
MONDAY SCHEDULE
3 Class Matters Intro.; Andrew Carnegie, The Gospel…; Jacob Riis, How the Other Half Lives
BLOG 7
10/15 PAPER 2 PEER REVIEW CONFERENCES PAPER 2 DRAFT
10/17 Janny Scott and David Leonhardt, Shadowy Lines that Still Divide BLOG 8
10/22 LIBRARY SESSION – CLASS MEETS IN ROSENTHAL LIBRARY
10/24 Eric Liu, A Chinaman's Chance…; Alfred Lubrano, Bricklayer’s Boy BLOG 9
10/29 Peter Marin, Helping and Hating the Homeless REVISION 2
10/31 4 Urban Education Intro; DeWitt Clinton, Free Schools; Jonathan Kozol, Savage Inequalities BLOG 10
11/5 Colin Powell, My American Journey; John Taylor Gatto, Against School FINAL PREWRITING
11/7
Esmeralda Santiago, When I Was Puerto Rican; Claudia Wallis and Sonja Steptoe, How to
Bring Our Schools Into the 21st
. century
BLOG 11
11/12 5 Violence and Resistance Introduction ; Ralph Ellison, Prologue to Invisible Man
11/14 Nicky Cruz, Into the Pit; Mark Berkey-Gerard, Youth Gangs BLOG 12
11/19 Michael T. Kaufman, Of My Friend Hector…; Mark Naison, From Doo Wop to Hip Hop
11/21 FINAL PROJECT PEER REVIEW CONFERENCES
FINAL PROJECT DRAFT
BLOG 13
11/22-11/25 COLLEGE CLOSED THANKSGIVING RECESS
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3. Notes
 The Writing Center - Kiely 229. The Reading Center - Kiely 131. E-tutor - www.qc.edu/qcwsw.
 You are responsible for material you miss in class. Contact fellow classmates to gather notes missed.
GRADING GUIDELINES
A - An “A” is superior. A superior project has a clear, defined thesis statement and remains focused throughout. It correctly
uses reliable scholarly sources using MLA format. Cited materials are used judiciously and smoothly incorporated into the
text. The quality of the writing shows a fully developed synthesis as well as attention to the details of the project and goes
well beyond those for a fully developed composition. It is nearly free of typographical, spelling and grammatical errors.
B - A “B” is above average. An above average project has a generally clear thesis statement and focus. Mostly, it uses reliable
scholarly sources correctly using MLA format. The quality of the writing generally goes beyond sources for a developed
synthesis. It has few typographical, spelling and grammatical errors per page.
C - A “C” is average. An average project has a somewhat unclear thesis statement and has points of shifting focus on the
subject throughout the project. It does not consistently use reliable scholarly sources correctly or properly cite in-text and list
on the Works Cited page. The quality of the writing does not often go beyond sources for a developed synthesis. It has
several typographical, spelling, grammatical and/or other patterns of error per page.
D - A “D” is below average. A below average project has an unclear thesis statement, poorly defined argument, and does not
focus throughout on the subject of the project. It frequently uses sources incorrectly or improperly cites in-text and has an
incomplete or fairly flawed Works Cited page. The quality of the writing generally does not go beyond sources for a
developed synthesis. It has numerous typographical, spelling, grammatical and/or other patterns of error.
F - An “F” is failing. A failing project presents writing which does not develop a synthesis. No attention is paid to vocabulary,
tone, and sentence style. It lacks an identifiable thesis statement and defined argument. It lacks clarity, focus and
development of independent ideas. It uses sources incorrectly, improperly cites in-text or cites no sources whatsoever,
therefore, it contains plagiarized material. Works Cited page is incomplete or missing. It has systemic patterns of
typographical, spelling, grammatical, and idiomatic error per page.
Plagiarism
Plagiarism is the use of another’s ideas and/or words without proper attribution. This includes material available on the
internet as well as traditional printed documents whether published or unpublished. ALL SOURCES USED IN SUMMARY,
PARAPHRASE, OR DIRECT QUOTATION MUST BE FULLY CITED IN-TEXT AND INCLUDED ON A WORKS CITED/BIBLIOGRAPHY
PAGE. Any other use of source material, including resubmitting your own essays in whole or in part, is considered plagiarism.
Cases will be handled individually, and may result in any and/or all of the following: failing the assignment, failing the course,
reporting to the Dean, and possibly even expulsion from the college. The English Department statement on plagiarism will be
circulated separately. Continued registration in this course section indicates your agreement to be bound by the Queens
College English Department plagiarism policy.
Calendar of Readings and Assignments
Date Readings Due Writing Due
11/26 6 Current Issues Introduction; Mayor Michael Bloomberg, State of the City Address 2007
11/28 Timothy Williams and Tanzina Vega, East Harlem Develops…; Aarti Shahani, Legalization… BLOG 14
12/3 Jonathan Mandell, Arts Education; Aaron Barlow, 9/11 and the Rise of the Blogosphere
12/5 Section II: Literary New York Introduction; Herman Melville, Bartleby, the Scrivener… BLOG 15
12/10
O. Henry, The Making of a New Yorker; e.e. cummings, i was sitting in mcsorley’s
Langston Hughes, Lenox Avenue: Midnight; Theme for English B; Ballad of the Landlord
12/12 FINAL CONFFERENCES
FINAL PROJECT
BLOG 16
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