Writing 1 Spring Semester Initial Syllabus

Writing 1 Syllabus

Semester 2

Tammy Prichard (tamprichard@gmail.com)

Resources:

·         A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court  (Mark Twain)  Dover Publications

·         Great Short Poems (Philip Smith, ed.)  Dover Publications

Objectives:

Literature

            As we read Mark Twain’s classic, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court (ACY), we will specifically study the character development, themes, and humorous language of the book.  Not only is this book an entertaining story, it is well-crafted and artful.

Writing

            The students will write 4 papers for this class.  Since Mark Twain was a reporter, it seems fitting to do some journalistic writing.  The first assignment will require some research, while the second one will utilize some persuasion techniques.  The third papers will be an analytical response to our literature.  All of these papers will follow the 3-step process (pre-writing to rough draft to final copy).  The final paper will be a re-write of any of the papers that they’ve written this year.  “There is no such thing as good writing, only good rewriting.” (Louis D. Brandeis)

Grammar

            We will continue to study grammar, paying special attention to building strong, clear, accurate sentences.  Again, the open spaces on the syllabus leave room to work on weak areas.

Initial Draft – Subject to change

Week	Literature	Writing	Grammar
1	Introduction to A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court (ACY)		Sentence construction review
2	ACY:  Intro; Ch. 1 – 4	News Story Pre-Write	Correcting weak sentences
3	ACY:  Ch. 5 – 9	News Story Rough Draft
4	ACY:  Ch. 10 – 14		Review common errors in rough drafts
5	ACY:  Ch. 15 – 19	News Story Final Copy
6	ACY:  Ch. 20 – 24	Editorial Pre-Write
7	ACY:  Ch. 25 – 29	Editorial Rough Draft
8	ACY:  Ch. 30 – 34		Review common errors in rough drafts
9	ACY:  Ch. 35 – 38; Final PS	Editorial Final Copy
10	ACY:  Presentations	Theme & Character Pre-Write
11	ACY:  Baseball	Theme & Character Rough Draft
12	American Poetry		Review common errors in rough drafts
13	American Poetry	Theme & Character Final Copy
14	American Poetry & Poetry Presentations	Re-Write #1
15	Poetry Presentations & Final Exam	Re-Write #2