English Language and Grammar
Litt-2412-01
MWF 11:20-12:35 -- F 223
Thomas Kinsella
Thomas.Kinsella@stockton.edu
J-230, Ext. 4419
Office Hours: MW 2:30-5:00
and by appointment. I'm on campus most days.
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This is a Writing-Across-The-Curriculum-Course.
Required Texts:
HarperCollins College Outline: English Grammar, by David Daniels and Barbara Daniels
Suggested Texts
A Writer's Reference, by Diana Hacker
An excellent, comprehensive dictionary of the English Language
The Course Blog
Expectations
Members of this class have enrolled in a rigorous study of the English language. We will carefully review and practice rule-based grammar. We will analyze the way words, phrases, and clauses work within sentences. We will study the way words mean and the ways that meanings shift over time. This is not a remedial course, and this is not a course that discusses methodologies of teaching grammar. We will learn to describe and discuss the function of English at the level of syntax.
The key to this class is practice -- in class and out. In order to successfully complete the course, assignments must be done on time. Perfect attendance is expected. If attendance is poor, you will be marked down. I will not give incompletes without exceptional reasons.
Prepare thoroughly for the grammar examinations. None will be easy, and each will be progressively more difficult; the final grammar examination requires excellent knowledge of rule-based grammar.
Essays should be handed to me in paper form on the assigned date. Papers should be well structured and make use of an effective and efficient prose style; essays must be mechanically perfect. If for some reason you need to send essays as attachments to e-mails, it is your duty to verify that I have received said essay in a timely manner.
When the difficulty of the grammar intensifies, you are welcome to attend extra sessions that will be scheduled.
Plagiarism is, of course, strickly forbidden. Plagiarists will be reported to the office of Academic Affairs.
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{{Note: Assignment dates for handouts are approximate. You are always welcome to begin them before the dates given (and sometimes should).}}
WEEK 1
W 9/2 Introduction.
F 9/4 Daniels, chap 1, 2.
Begin Handout 1.
WEEK 2
M 9/7 Labor Day -- College closed.
W 9/9 Daniels, chap 1, 2.
Begin Handout 2.
Deadline to drop a course with a 100% refund.}
F 9/11 Daniels, chap 2, 3.
Begin Handout 3.
WEEK 3
M 9/14 Daniels, chap 2, 3.
W 9/16 Outline of first essay due in class with draft of opening paragraph.
F 9/18 Daniels, chap 4.
Begin Handout 4.
WEEK 4
M 9/21 Daniels, chap 4.
Begin Handout 4.5.
W 9/23 Daniels, chap 4.Begin Handout 5.
Begin Handout 5.
F 9/25 Daniels, chap 4, 8.
Begin Review of 1st Examination material 1 & 2.
WEEK 5
M 9/28 Daniels, chap 8, 6.
W 9/30 First Examination.
{October 1st is the Deadline to file for Fall 2009 graduation application without financial penalty.}
F 10/2 Daniels, chap 8, 6.
Begin Handout 6.
{Deadline to withdraw from a full-term course with a 50% refund.}
WEEK 6
M 10/5 Daniels, chap 5.
Begin Handout 7.
W 10/7 Daniels, chap 5.
Begin Handout 8.
F 10/9 Daniels, chap 5.
WEEK 7
M 10/12 First Essay Due.
Daniels, chap 5.
Begin Handout 9.
W 10/14 Punctation.
F 10/16 Daniels, chap 5.
WEEK 8
M 10/19 Daniels, chap 5.
W 10/21 Second Examination.
F 10/23 Daniels, chap 7.
Begin Handout 10.
{Spring 2010 Preregistration Schedule of Classes posted.}
WEEK 9
M 10/26 Daniels, chap 7.
Begin Handout 11.
T 10/27 Preceptorial Advising - no classes.
W 10/28 Daniels, chap 7.
Begin Handout 12.
F 10/30 Daniels, chap 7.
WEEK 10
M 11/2 Review
Begin Handout 13: Apple Sauce Man and the Potato Gnomes.
W 11/4 Preceptorial Advising - no classes until 3:35PM.
W 11/6 Review.
WEEK 11
M 11/9 Punctuation.
W 11/11 Review.
F 11/13 Third Examination.
WEEK 12
M 11/16 Third Examination, pt 2.
W 11/18 Mechanics & Words.
F 11/20 Mechanics & Words.
WEEK 13
M 11/23 Mechanics & Rhetoric.
W 11/25 Classes end at 3:25.
11/26-27 Thanksgiving.
WEEK 14
M 11/30 Mechanics & Rhetoric.
W 12/2 Mechanics Examination.
F 12/4 Class does not meet.
WEEK 15
M 12/7 We meet at 11:30.
Last Day Post-mortem; Second Essay Due.
Evaluation:
First Grammar Examination 15%
Second Grammar Examination 20%
Final Grammar Examination 30%
First Essay 10%
Second Essay 15%
Mechanics Examination 10%
The First Examination covers all points of grammar and mechanics learned to date.
The Second Examination covers all points of grammar and mechanics learned to date.
The Third Examination covers all points of grammar and mechanics.
The First Essay (8-10 pages). This essay describes your personal experiences with the English language. Potential topics include, but are not limited to, early language acquisition, including reading experiences (your own or those of your children or siblings); classroom experiences; thoughts on the relationship between grammar and writing, grammar and speech, grammar and social perceptions; regional language variants; family language backgrounds; theoretical implications of language.
The Second Essay (8-10 pages). This essay is a careful analysis of shifting word meanings based on primary research using the OED; it is expected that you will analyze the meanings of as many words as necessary to get to the appropriate essay length -- probably 10 - 20 words.
The Mechanics Examination covers all points of mechanics.