Thursday, August 18

I am uncertain as to how many, if any of you, will find this last note...

but I still wanted to say, again, how much I enjoyed the last six weeks with you.

Thank you for having such an open mind and good attitude about doing something a little different with using a TV series as a base for discussion and writing.

And thank you, too, for all the very valuable feedback about the course on the evaluations you filled out today.
I appreciate all the kind words and comments.

From all the feedback, it appears that all of you found a lot of value in Breaking Bad--both the series and the consequent essays, group discussions and class discussions. In fact, only one student noted that he/she found it an odd choice. So I consider that a huge success.

Best to all of you.

Tuesday, August 16th

Hello,

Just a few reminders as we finish up our last week of the course:

1. Please remember to bring a blue (or green) book to class for our in-class essay #2--which will be a "mock" WPJ exam.

2. For Thursday, please be sure to bring all your graded work along with your Grade Worksheet with all your earned scores recorded. The only grade you should have blank is for the in-class essay #2, which you will receive back from me on Thursday.

3. Thursday is the very last day to submit a revision of out of class essay #3. Be sure to submit with the original graded essay and highlight all the changes.

See you tomorrow.

Tuesday, August 9, second posting today

Take the "ultimate fan quiz" for season 1...just for fun...

http://www.amctv.com/shows/breaking-bad/games-quizzes-season-1

Tuesday, August 9

Hi,
Just a reminder that the reading for Packet 6 is due to be read tomorrow...
and when you do access the reading, once you open the link, be sure to click on "full text". What you see initially is just of course the short intro and not the entire article.

Monday, August 8

Greetings,

just a quick reminder...
since you do have readings due to be read in your Handbook for tomorrow, you will want to BRING it with you to class.
(either copies of the pages or a device to find the readings online). I highly recommend that you read the pages for your academic major BEFORE class--in the event of a quiz, you will not necessarily have time to read the pages in class. It is best that you are familiar with the text before you attend class. :-)

I have received several second drafts of essay three since our conferences. If you choose to email me another draft, you have about 32 more minutes in which to do so.

See you in class tomorrow.

Friday evening, August 5

Greetings!

The following link will lead you to...Reading Packet #6, due to be read by Wednesday, August 10.

"Assessing and Managing Depression in the Terminally Ill Patient"
http://focus.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/abstract/3/2/310

It is an article published in the spring of 2005 in The Journal of Lifelong Learning in Psychiatry.

It APPEARS at first glance to be very "academic"--however--do not fret. It is actually very readable and quite interesting. It offers case studies to consider which always aids in a rather academic topic such as this one.

Walter is obviously affected by his knowledge that he is terminally ill and so it is rather interesting to follow this idea further from television "land" to reality.

Wednesday evening, August 3

Greetings,
below you will find a few reminders and notes, as well as Reading Packet #5.


1. The following TWO readings about U.S. health care are due to be read by Tuesday and are considered READING PACKET #5. The issue of health care certainly rears its head in the Breaking Bad episodes. It seems fitting that the series features an ordinary high school chemistry teacher whose health care benefits do not cover his treatments for lung cancer. He is desperate to get money for his treatments and to leave money for his family in the event of his death.

(Walter's former business partner, Elliott, was willing to pay for Walter's entire treatment. This "private sector" option was rejected out of jealousy and spite toward his friend's success. White, who quit the company before it went big, believes his friends ripped him off. One of his friends is the current wife of the company's CEO and also White's ex-fiance, whom he left. His resentment toward their success drives him to reject their offer.)

"Middle Class Struggling with Health Care Costs, Report Finds"
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10077/1043764-84.stm

"Why Does Health Care Cost so Much?"
http://www.newamerica.net/node/8920

Just a quick note...

When you are accessing the two required readings for Tuesday please make a note that the article titled
"Middle class struggling with health care costs, report finds" is the one I want you to read. It is an article by David Templeton from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. It is the link I gave you, but just in case you notice another listing when you google this title, it may be the entire PDF of the report. I do not want you to read the entire report, just the article ABOUT the report.

2. If you are planning on turning in a revision of Out of Class Essay #2 tomorrow, and you have already met with me today for our conference, YOU NEED NOT MAKE AN EXTRA TRIP TO CAMPUS. You can submit it on Tuesday next week. In fact, to be fair, all revisions for Out of Class Essay #2 will be due now on Tuesday next week.

3. If you wish for me to take another look at your rough draft for essay #3 AFTER WE HAVE OUR CONFERENCE you may email me a new draft no later than Monday, August 8th at 8 pm. If you do not hear from me immediately, please know that I will be out of town overnight on Sunday.

4. Here is an article I shared with my students last semester, along with the link to the Citizenship Test.

http://cltr.co.douglas.nv.us/Elections/100QuestionTest.htm

How Dumb Are We?

Andrew Romano – Sun Mar 20, 11:45 pm ET

NEW YORK – Newsweek gave 1,000 Americans the U.S. Citizenship Test—38 percent failed. The country's future is imperiled by our ignorance. In this week’s issue, Andrew Romano looks at the risks involved in America’s ignorance.
They’re the sort of scores that drive high-school history teachers to drink. When Newsweek recently asked 1,000 U.S. citizens to take America’s official citizenship test, 29 percent couldn’t name the vice president. Seventy-three percent couldn’t correctly say why we fought the Cold War. Forty-four percent were unable to define the Bill of Rights. And 6 percent couldn’t even circle Independence Day on a calendar.

Don’t get us wrong: civic ignorance is nothing new. For as long as they’ve existed, Americans have been misunderstanding checks and balances and misidentifying their senators. And they’ve been lamenting the philistinism of their peers ever since pollsters started publishing these dispiriting surveys back in Harry Truman’s day. (He was a president, by the way.) According to a study by Michael X. Delli Carpini, dean of the Annenberg School for Communication, the yearly shifts in civic knowledge since World War II have averaged out to “slightly under 1 percent.”
But the world has changed. And unfortunately, it’s becoming more and more inhospitable to incurious know-nothings—like us.
To appreciate the risks involved, it’s important to understand where American ignorance comes from. In March 2009, the European Journal of Communication asked citizens of Britain, Denmark, Finland, and the U.S. to answer questions on international affairs. The Europeans clobbered us. Sixty-eight percent of Danes, 75 percent of Brits, and 76 percent of Finns could, for example, identify the Taliban, but only 58 percent of Americans managed to do the same—even though we’ve led the charge in Afghanistan. It was only the latest in a series of polls that have shown us lagging behind our First World peers.
Most experts agree that the relative complexity of the U.S. political system makes it hard for Americans to keep up. In many European countries, parliaments have proportional representation, and the majority party rules without having to “share power with a lot of subnational governments,” notes Yale political scientist Jacob Hacker, coauthor of Winner-Take-All Politics. In contrast, we’re saddled with a nonproportional Senate; a tangle of state, local, and federal bureaucracies; and near-constant elections for every imaginable office (judge, sheriff, school-board member, and so on). “Nobody is competent to understand it all, which you realize every time you vote,” says Michael Schudson, author of The Good Citizen. “You know you’re going to come up short, and that discourages you from learning more.”

For more than two centuries, Americans have gotten away with not knowing much about the world around them. But times have changed—and they’ve changed in ways that make civic ignorance a big problem going forward.
It doesn’t help that the United States has one of the highest levels of income inequality in the developed world, with the top 400 households raking in more money than the bottom 60 percent combined. As Dalton Conley, an NYU sociologist, explains, “it’s like comparing apples and oranges. Unlike Denmark, we have a lot of very poor people without access to good education, and a huge immigrant population that doesn’t even speak English.” When surveys focus on well-off, native-born respondents, the U.S. actually holds its own against Europe.
Other factors exacerbate the situation. A big one, Hacker argues, is the decentralized U.S. education system, which is run mostly by individual states: “When you have more centrally managed curricula, you have more common knowledge and a stronger civic culture.” Another hitch is our reliance on market-driven programming rather than public broadcasting, which, according to the EJC study, “devotes more attention to public affairs and international news, and fosters greater knowledge in these areas.”

For more than two centuries, Americans have gotten away with not knowing much about the world around them. But times have changed—and they’ve changed in ways that make civic ignorance a big problem going forward. While isolationism is fine in an isolated society, we can no longer afford to mind our own business. What happens in China and India (or at a Japanese nuclear plant) affects the autoworker in Detroit; what happens in the statehouse and the White House affects the competition in China and India. Before the Internet, brawn was enough; now the information economy demands brains instead. And where we once relied on political institutions (like organized labor) to school the middle classes and give them leverage, we now have nothing. “The issue isn’t that people in the past knew a lot more and know less now,” says Hacker. “It’s that their ignorance was counterbalanced by denser political organizations.” The result is a society in which wired activists at either end of the spectrum dominate the debate—and lead politicians astray at precisely the wrong moment.
The current conflict over government spending illustrates the new dangers of ignorance. Every economist knows how to deal with the debt: cost-saving reforms to big-ticket entitlement programs; cuts to our bloated defense budget; and (if growth remains slow) tax reforms designed to refill our depleted revenue coffers. But poll after poll shows that voters have no clue what the budget actually looks like. A 2010 World Public Opinion survey found that Americans want to tackle deficits by cutting foreign aid from what they believe is the current level (27 percent of the budget) to a more prudent 13 percent. The real number is under 1 percent. A Jan. 25 CNN poll, meanwhile, discovered that even though 71 percent of voters want smaller government, vast majorities oppose cuts to Medicare (81 percent), Social Security (78 percent), and Medicaid (70 percent). Instead, they prefer to slash waste—a category that, in their fantasy world, seems to include 50 percent of spending, according to a 2009 Gallup poll.

Needless to say, it’s impossible to balance the budget by listening to these people. But politicians pander to them anyway, and even encourage their misapprehensions. As a result, we’re now arguing over short-term spending cuts that would cost up to 700,000 government jobs, imperiling the shaky recovery and impairing our ability to compete globally, while doing nothing to tackle the long-term fiscal challenges that threaten … our ability to compete globally.
Given our history, it’s hard to imagine this changing any time soon. But that isn’t to say a change wouldn’t help. For years, Stanford communications professor James Fishkin has been conducting experiments in deliberative democracy. The premise is simple: poll citizens on a major issue, blind; then see how their opinions evolve when they’re forced to confront the facts. What Fishkin has found is that while people start out with deep value disagreements over, say, government spending, they tend to agree on rational policy responses once they learn the ins and outs of the budget. “The problem is ignorance, not stupidity,” Hacker says. “We suffer from a lack of information rather than a lack of ability.” Whether that’s a treatable affliction or a terminal illness remains to be seen. But now’s the time to start searching for a cure.

Andrew Romano is a Senior Writer for Newsweek. He reports on politics, culture, and food for the print and web editions of the magazine and appears frequently on CNN and MSNBC. His 2008 campaign blog, Stumper, won MINOnline's Best Consumer Blog award and was cited as one of the cycle's best news blogs by both Editor & Publisher and the Deadline Club of New York.

Tuesday evening, August 2

Hello,

As you know, there is no formal class being held tomorrow or Thursday.
Those two days have been reserved for one on one writing conferences with me.

Please meet me in my office, Calaveras 149, at your scheduled time.
(The schedule is posted on the last blog before this one.)

Try to arrive a few minutes before your appointment. I will try very hard to stay on track. :-)

Be sure to check the blog later this week for the assignment for Reading Packet 5.

Thursday evening, July 28th

Hello,

Below you will find the schedule for student conferences AND a copy of the out of class 3 essay assignment.

To re-cap, next week, on Wednesday and Thursday, August 3 and 4, class will not be held. Instead, you will attend only on the day you signed up for. Please arrive a few minutes early with your rough draft of essay 3. Conferences will be in my office, Calaveras 149.

When you submit the final draft of essay 3 on the 9th of August, please remember to attach the rough draft that we discussed together with my notations, etc.

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 3
9-915--Dylan
915-930--James
930-945--Scott
945-10--Jennifer
10-1015--Bryan
1030-1045--Alexandria
11-1115--George
1115-1130--Mike
1130-1145--Curtis
1215-1230--Kelly S.
1230-1245--Kristine


THURSDAY, AUGUST 4
915-930--Manvir
930-945--Eric
945-10--Andrew
10-1015--Kelly C.
1015-1030--John
1030-1045--Sonia
1045-11--Amandeep
11-1115--Brandon
1115-1130--Andrea
1130-1145--Phil
1145-noon--Eloise
noon-1215--Victor
1215-1230--Ulisses
1230-1245--Heather

******************************************

English 20
Summer 2011
Prof. Fraga
Out of Class Essay Assignment #3 (200 points)

Assigned: Thursday, July 28

Rough Draft (mandatory) – individual conferences next week on Wednesday and Thursday. You will sign up to attend a conference on ONE of these two days. If you do not attend with your rough draft, 20 points will be deducted from the final grade earned for the essay. These points cannot be made up in a revision.

Due: Tuesday, August 9

Requirements:
• MLA format
• If you utilize any outside sources (not required) you must follow MLA format for in- text citations, Works Cited page, etc.
• Your rough draft with my comments must be attached to the final draft when you submit on the due date.


Before we began viewing the first season of Breaking Bad, I strongly suggested that you take notes during and/or soon after you view each episode. You were also to select a character to focus on more carefully than others. These notes will now be a valuable source as you write your last out of class essay for this course.


Assignment:
Write an in-depth character analysis of one of the characters in the first season of Breaking Bad. Write your essay for an audience that has viewed these episodes. In other words, be specific but you need not relate the entire story line.


Your essay must include the following:
• An introduction/description/background of your character
• Assertions about your character
• Supportive evidence from the episodes that support your assertions (how did you come to the conclusions you did regarding your character?)


Your supportive evidence might include but is not limited to:
• what others observe/say (or don’t observe/say) about your character—either directly or in private
• the actions of your character in particular situations
• the reactions/responses of your character in particular situations
• what drives this character
• what terrifies this character
• what pleases this character
• what does this character long for
• what does this character need

Your thesis must be assertive…it is YOUR opinion as a viewer of these episodes.
Whether or not you LIKE or DISLIKE this character is not an issue in this essay.
Whether you LIKE or DISLIKE the series is also not an issue in this essay. Proving to the reader that this character has the attributes (good, bad, layered, shallow) that you assert he or she has is your goal.

Your thesis might read something like this:

Once Walter learns of his terminal cancer, he seems very unstable and irresponsible; however, his behavior truly represents a very determined, focused and highly intelligent, strictly moral father and husband.

or…

Marie is a very insecure and lonely woman who is unhappy and uncomfortable living in the shadow of her power-driven DEA husband and her happily married and very bright sister, Skylar.

Tuesday evening, July 26th

Greetings,

A few things...

1. In preparation for a group exercise on Tuesday next week, I am assigning a homework task due this THURSDAY, JULY 28TH.

For this assignment, I would like you to consider the word "immigration" and do some brainstorming.

Type out ideas that come to mind when you "hear" this word.

The manner in which you do this (listing; short paragraphs; bulleted points, etc.) is entirely up to you. These reactions/responses need not necessarily be what YOU feel or believe...perhaps they are just things you have heard or read.

Please DO NOT PUT YOUR NAME on this assignment. When you submit it, there will be a sign-in sheet so you receive credit for completing the assignment. It counts as 25 points towards the 50 points for GROUP WORK 4 next week.

I will discuss this briefly in class tomorrow in case you have questions or concerns.

2. The following three articles make up Packet 4, to be read by next Tuesday, August 2nd:

"John McCain Blames Illegal Immigrants for Arizona Fires"
http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/06/john-mccain-blames-illegal-immigrants-for-arizona-fires.php#more

"Robert Menendez, Senate Democrats Re-Introduce Immigration Reform Bill"
http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/politics/2011/06/22/robert-menendez-senate-democrats-re-introduce-immigration-bill/

"Immigration-Linked Prostitution Cases Pose Challenge"
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/06/AR2008030603665.html

3. REMINDER: If you choose to revise out of class essay #1, your first revision is due no later than this Thursday, July 28. Remember that you must submit the original graded essay with the revision...and the revision must have the changes highlighted. Thanks!

Monday, July 25

Last minute reminders....
be sure you are current and have read all the previous blogs.
And remember to bring your Handbook to class...or a copy of the assigned reading for tomorrow...or a laptop if you have one so you can access the pages.
There could be a quiz....

Sunday afternoon, July 24th

Greetings,

Please do the following and bring to class on Tuesday.

Instructions:
The issue of honesty is one that is very prevalent in the Breaking Bad series. For example, Walter is obviously NOT being honest with Skyler about cooking meth...and he kept his cancer diagnosis from her for quite some time. Marie appears to have issues with honesty, and it is clear that her marriage with Hank has some secrets, too.
For Tuesday, please complete the following sentence, filling in the blanks however you wish. There is not a right or wrong answer. Please type it but do not put your name on it.

Being honest is less about________________________________and more about_______________________________________.

Good morning,

The two parts of Packet 3, due to be completed by Tuesday, are listed below. As I mentioned yesterday in class, we will be discussing these two items AND the article on the war on drugs from Packet 2.

"Tackling America's Drug Addiction"
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=127937271
(this is an interview to listen to and there is also the text of the interview provided)

2.) "Confessions of a Mom (and a Former Teen Pothead)
http://www.npr.org/blogs/tellmemore/2010/10/19/130677774/confessions-from-a-mom-and-former-teen-pot-head

Also...a couple of other things...

1. The sample essay you picked up after completing the in class essay yesterday is a very good example of a student who utilized his own experiences AND wove interesting and relevant research into his essay as well.

2. Since the English dept. requires English 20 students to write an approximate number of words during the course, students must write every out of class essay and submit. They are the three assignments that require the most words. Students can miss a journal or a quiz, but even though the essay is so late that it will earn a failing grade, all three out of class essays still must be written and submitted in order to pass the class. This IS first and foremost a composition course so this is a logical requirement. :-)

Have a good and safe weekend. Please check the blog at least one more time before Tuesday.

Wednesday afternoon, July 20

Hello,
A few things I wanted to remind you of, etc...
1. remember to bring a blue (or green book) to class tomorrow for in class essay #1. You will have an hour to complete the essay. I do evaluate in class essays differently than out of class essays. I consider in class essays a rough draft; it is not going to be your very best work. I am less interested in sentence level errors and more concerned with your thesis and supports.
2. I will be discussing the results of quiz 1 and out of class essay 1 in class tomorrow.
3. Please bring your copy of the handout I distributed as part of Packet 1 ("Sweet Land of...Conformity?") to class tomorrow.

Monday, July 18th, second posting

Hi, it was brought to my attention (thank you Aman!) that the link I gave for Packet 2 was not correct. I apologize. It has been corrected on the July 17th posting.

Monday morning, July 18

Good morning,
just a quick note to remind you about in text citations...don't forget them!
I have read a few rough drafts from students over the weekend, and there were no in text citations.
Remember, MLA format requires you to indicate any outside sources you utilize within the text of your essay.

Sunday evening, July 17th

Hello,

As you follow the course outline, you will note that Reading Packet #2 is due to be completed by Thursday, July 21st.
The material you are to read for Packet #2 can be found at the following link:

http://www.cleartest.com/news/whats-wrong-with-the-drug-war/

At the end of the short introduction, there is an invitation that reads:

"Visit these pages to see how the drug war affects all aspects of our lives."

There is a list of choices. Please click on and read the following three:

--Drug War Funding
--Economics
--Alternatives to Prohibition

Be sure to bring copies of the reading to class.

See you Tuesday!

Friday evening, July 15

Hello,
if any of you would like to send me a rough draft version of out of class essay 1, please email it to me in a Word document, attached, no later than Monday at 9 pm. I would be more than happy to peruse it, make suggestions and comments, and email it back to you.
Happy weekend.

Wednesday evening, July 13th

Greetings, below are two main items:
1. suggestions for things to think about while watching episodes of Breaking Bad
2. Part 2 of Packet 1, due to be viewed by Tuesday.

WHILE YOU ARE WATCHING BREAKING BAD, ESPECIALLY AFTER YOU HAVE DECIDED WHICH CHARACTER YOU WILL FOLLOW MORE CLOSELY PERHAPS THAN ANY OTHER, I SUGGEST YOU THINK ABOUT OR RECORD THE FOLLOWING OBSERVATIONS:

• What does this character do (and not do) and why?
• What do others think about your character? And how do you know?
• What motivates your character to do what he/she does?
• What influences this character to do what he/she does?
• What was your first impression of this character and does it change as you view new episodes? Why or why not? In which ways?
• What are this character’s goals, dreams, desires, needs? How do you know?
• Do you like this character? Why or why not?
• Is this character a believable one, a genuine one? Why or why not?

PACKET ONE, PART 2--TO VIEW ON LINE

This talk is an approximately 17 minute video presentation on TED talks. The link is below, as well as a short "blurb" about the speaker.

A. J. Jacobs, I believe, can be considered in the category of nonconformist. He certainly has a unique and interesting way of going about living and asking questions in order to live the best, most genuine life possible. Please arrive to class on Tuesday having viewed this presentation. I recommend that you take notes while viewing so you can recall key points for class discussion and for an in class writing response.

http://www.ted.com/talks/a_j_jacobs_year_of_living_biblically.html

A.J. Jacobs' writings stand at the intersection of philosophy, Gonzo journalism and performance art. Stubbornly curious and slyly perceptive, he takes immersive learning to its irrational and profoundly amusing extreme -- extracting wisdom and meaning after long stints as a self-styled guinea pig. For his widely circulated Esquire article, My Outsourced Life, he explored the phenomenon of outsourcing by hiring a team in Bangalore, India to take care of every part of his life -- from reading his emails to arguing with his wife to reading bedtime stories to his own son. A previous article, I Think You're Fat, chronicled a brief, cringe-inducing attempt to live his life in Radical Honesty, telling all the truth, all the time.
Jacobs is author of The Know-It-All, which documents the year he spent reading the Encyclopedia Britannica from A to Z, uncovering both funny and surprising factoids but also poignant insight into history and human nature. In 2007 he released The Year of Living Biblically, he attempted to follow every single rule in the Bible as literally as possible for an entire year. His latest book, My Life as an Experiment, is a collection of numerous personal experiments including living according to George Washington's rules of conduct, outsourcing every single task to India, and posing as a woman on an online dating site.
"A. J. Jacobs has written about the Bible in a manner that is brilliantly funny but unerringly respectful, learned but goofy, deeply personal yet highly relevant. I am covetous and wish him smited."
Mary Roach, author, Bonk

July 12, 2011--Tuesday afternoon

Greetings!

Below you will find copies of the handouts from today:

1. The course outline
2. The grade worksheet
3. Unacceptable errors

And a couple of things that come to mind after class today:

1. If you read this AFTER you view episode one of Breaking Bad, no worries! However, keep in mind that your out of class essay 3 will be an in depth character analysis of ONE of the characters in this television series. I suggest that you consider taking notes while watching episodes, or at least record some of your observations and thoughts soon after viewing each episode. This is just for YOU. You will eventually select one of the characters to pay attention to a bit more closely than the others, but most students do not make a decision on which character that will be until the first few episodes are viewed.

2. On the handout, Unacceptable Errors, there is a section at the bottom that we did NOT discuss or go over in class, so be sure you read it. It discusses OTHER kinds of issues that impact the readability of your work. When these are found in your essay, I will not be deducting ten points for each one, but please understand that if these errors appear too often, they WILL impact readability and thus impact the evaluation of your writing.

3. If you wish to follow the blog privately and not follow it publicly, that is perfectly fine. My only concern is that you can easily locate the blog and stay current.


English 20
Summer 2011

July 12 – August 18; TWR 10:30-12:50 pm – Calaveras 135
Instructor: Catherine Fraga
Email: sacto1954@gmail.com
Office hours: (Calaveras 149) TWR, 945 am-1025 am OR BY APPT.

COURSE DESCRIPTION (FROM CSUS CATALOG): ADVANCED WRITING THAT BUILDS UPON THE CRITICAL THINKING, READING, AND WRITING PROCESSES INTRODUCED IN ENGL 1A AND ENGL 2. EMPHASIZES RHETORICAL AWARENESS BY EXPLORING READING AND WRITING WITHIN DIVERSE ACADEMIC CONTEXTS WITH A FOCUS ON THE SITUATIONAL NATURE OF THE STANDARDS, VALUES, HABITS, CONVENTIONS, AND PRODUCTS OF COMPOSITION. STUDENTS WILL RESEARCH AND ANALYZE DIFFERENT DISCIPLINARY GENRES, PURPOSES, AND AUDIENCES WITH THE GOALS OF UNDERSTANDING HOW TO APPROPRIATELY SHAPE THEIR WRITING FOR DIFFERENT READERS AND DEMONSTRATING THIS UNDERSTANDING THROUGH VARIOUS WRITTEN PRODUCTS. NOTE: WRITING REQUIREMENT: A MINIMUM OF 5,000 WORDS. PREREQUISITE: COMPLETION OF ENGL 1A AND ENGL 2 OR EQUIVALENT WITH A C- OR BETTER; SOPHOMORE STANDING (MUST HAVE COMPLETED 30 UNITS PRIOR TO REGISTRATION). UNITS: 3.0.

Required Texts & Materials:
• Two blue (or green) books.
• Lined notebook paper with a clean, straight edge.
• Stapler.
• Reliable access to a computer and a printer. Important information will be posted on the course blog:
English20Summer2011.blogspot.com. In addition, many of the readings will be items found on the Internet and will need to be printed and brought to class.
• Sacramento State Student Writing Handbook—available free on line at:
http://www.csus.edu/wac/WAC/Students/CSUS_Writing_Handbook.pdf
(Suggestion: you may want to bookmark the two web addresses above on your personal computer for quicker access.)
• We will be viewing six episodes of Breaking Bad in class. However, there is a copy of the entire Season 1 on reserve in the library on campus, in case you want to review an episode or you unfortunately miss class on a day we are viewing.



Recommended Text:
Any writing handbook that, at a minimum, offers information on MLA research documentation.

Newly updated MLA format is available free online at:
http://library.csus.edu/guides/rogenmoserd/general/mla.html

Classroom Policies:

1. Attendance is especially important during this accelerated summer school course, which meets a total of only 18 days. Classroom discussions prepare students for all writing assignments, and your fellow students and I need your input in order to make this class more complete and enjoyable.

2. YOU MUST TYPE AND DOUBLE SPACE ALL OUT OF CLASS WORK

3. In all fairness to other students, out of class assignments must be handed in on time. For out of class essays, for every day it is late, there will be 10 points deducted from your earned grade, even on weekends. You may not earn these points back in a revision. In-Class Journals cannot be made up; you must be present AND ON TIME in order to complete the Journal in class.

4. You’re responsible for finding out what you missed if you are absent. I will provide you with a class roster for your convenience. If you miss class, ALWAYS ASSUME YOU HAVE MISSED SOMETHING IMPORTANT.

5. My policy on EXTRA CREDIT is…I do not believe in extra credit. In short, “real” life outside the university does not operate on the extra credit option. You earn the grade you receive. It really is a fairness issue.

6. ABOUT REVISIONS: you have the option to revise one of your first two out of class essays. If you choose to revise, you must submit the revision with the original within one week of receiving the graded essay back. No exceptions. An essay with unacceptable errors might be an essay you choose to revise. Once you submit your revision, and receive it back with the revised score, you can continue to revise and re-submit as many times as you wish until you earn the grade you desire. ALL REVISIONS MUST BE HIGHLIGTED WHERE YOU HAVE MADE CHANGES AND/OR CORRECTIONS, ADDITIONS, ETC.

A note on classroom etiquette:
If you feel you cannot survive each class session without the use of your cell phone, iPod, iPad or laptop computer, please do not enroll in this class. (I own three of these devices, and value each of them, but I do not plan on using them during my classroom time with you. Simply, it is the highest degree of rudeness and disrespect.) If I see you busy texting, etc. I will not hesitate to ask you to leave. (IF THERE IS A COMPELLING REASON THAT YOU MUST KEEP YOUR PHONE ON VIBRATE FOR AN EMERGENCY PHONE CALL THAT MAY OCCUR DURING CLASS HOURS, PLEASE INFORM ME BEORE CLASS.) Again, we only meet for 18 days. I plan to give you my full attention for those 2 hours and 20 minutes and I expect the same from all my students. (Of course, if you have documented paperwork from the university indicating the need for a computer in the classroom, that is perfectly fine!)

HOW YOUR GRADE IS EARNED:
See attached grade roster. At no time should you wonder how you are “doing” in the course. The grade worksheet makes it very easy to keep track. Simply record your scores as you receive back your graded work. Do not discard any assignments that are graded and returned to you until the semester is over.

ABOUT THIS COURSE…
I have designed a very different and I hope interesting and provocative set of themes for discussion and critical thinking/writing for the semester. The core of the course from which these themes/ideas will spring is the first season of the television series, Breaking Bad. It recently won the TCA (Television Critics Association) Award for Outstanding Drama on Television. It has also been honored with a few Emmys as well. The series is heading into its fourth season.

You will view the first episode on your own (it is available on line through Amazon.com—free) and as a class we will view the remaining six episodes as well as read a wealth of material connected either directly or indirectly to some of its themes. This series poses so many intriguing questions about conformity, morals, family values/responsibilities, the line between good and evil, the war on drugs, greed, health care and so much more, including a comparison between current television vs. film viewing. In short, we will examine and expand on several issues connected with the overall term of “breaking bad”—straying from the path of morality, of legality, of conformity towards something deemed unacceptable by the majority of society. In fact, the origin of the term is American Southwest, a slang phrase meaning to challenge conventions, to defy authority, to skirt the edges of the law.

Here is an excerpt from a review of the series:
“It’s difficult to fathom a more dangerous and enthralling piece of television than Breaking Bad, the AMC drama that is quietly redefining the creative and content limits of primetime.”
--Ray Richmond, The Hollywood Reporter, March 4, 2009



Class Schedule:

(Please note: This schedule is subject to change at a moment’s notice. Please bring this schedule and required readings and appropriate handouts to every class session.)

Each time a reading assignment is given, you are expected to arrive to class having read the assignment. If it is an assignment from the Internet, please bring a hard copy to class on the day it is assigned to have been read.

NOT EVERY ACTIVITY IS LISTED ON THIS CLASS SCHEDULE. It is not unusual to have a quick quiz over reading material. There will be no prior announcement for these quizzes.


Tuesday, July 12
• Introduction to the Course
• Course Outline (handout)
• Unacceptable Errors (handout)
• Discussion: How to Critically Read and Evaluate an Essay (handout)

Wednesday, July 13
• Arrive to class today having watched episode 1 of Breaking Bad
• In-Class Journal #1
• Out of class essay #1 assigned
• In-class Group work #1

Thursday, July 14
• View episodes two and three of Breaking Bad, Season 1, in class

Tuesday, July 19
• Out of class essay #1 due today
• Out of class essay #2 assigned today
• Review of Sentence Mechanics
• Arrive to class having read Packet #1.
• Arrive to class having read pages 34-48 in the Handbook.

Wednesday, July 20
• View episodes four and five of Season 1, Breaking Bad

Thursday, July 21
• In Class Essay #1 (bring blue or green book to class)
• Arrive to class having read Packet #2.

Tuesday, July 26
• Out of Class Essay #2 due today
• In-Class Group Work #2 in
• Arrive to class having read pgs. 67-78 in the Handbook and Packet #3.

Wednesday, July 27
• In-class Journal #2
• View episode six of Breaking Bad, Season 1
• In-class Group Work #3

Thursday, July 28
• View episode seven (final episode) of Breaking Bad, Season 1
• Out of class assignment #3 assigned today

Tuesday, August 2
• Arrive to class having read Packet #4
• In-Class Group Work #4

Wednesday, August 3
• Rough draft due for Essay 3: Individual Conferences for half the class on Essay #3

Thursday, August 4
• Rough draft due for Essay 3: Individual Conferences for half the class on Essay #3

Tuesday, August 9
• Out of class essay #3 due today.
• Arrive to class having read Reading Packet #5
• Arrive in class having read one of the four sections in Part III of the Handbook: Writing Across the Curriculum at Sacramento State. Select the section that “fits” your major field of study. If you have not yet declared a major, select the one that BEST fits what you THINK your major will be. (Your choices are: Natural Sciences and Math; Social Sciences; Arts and Humanities; or Business and Professional Communications.)

Wednesday, August 10
• Arrive to class having read Reading Packet #6

Thursday, August 11
• In-class Journal #3

Tuesday, August 16
• In-class Journal #4
• Discuss the WPJ Writing Requirement in class

Wednesday, August 17
• In-class essay #2 (a mock WPJ)

Thursday, August 18
• Last day of class; grade roster check
************************************************************************
Name:______________________________Summer 2011, Prof. Fraga

POINTS EARNED Your English 20 Grade Worksheet--------1150 points possible

OUT OF CLASS ESSAYS—400 pts.
Essay 1 (200 points)_____ Essay 2 (200 points)_____Essay 3(200 points)

IN-CLASS ESSAYS—200 pts.
In class essay 1 (100 points)_____
In class essay 2 (100 points)_____

IN-CLASS JOURNALS—100 pts.
Journal 1 (25 points)_____
Journal 2 (25 points)_____
Journal 3 (25 points)_____
Journal 4 (25 points)_____

IN-CLASS GROUP WORK (200 pts.)
Each session is worth 50 pts.
Group Work 1 _____ Group Work 2 _____ Group Work 3 _____ Group Work 4 _____


QUIZZES (these five quizzes may not always be “announced” and they cannot be made up. (250 pts. total) Each quiz is worth 50 points. Please record each quiz and your score below.
Quiz 1_____ Quiz 2_____ Quiz 3_____ Quiz 4_____ Quiz 5_____




How to assess your grade earned: Divide the points you earn by 1150 to find the percentage.
Then see chart below.

100-95=A Example: 1000 pts. earned=86.9%=B+
94-90=A- Example: 1130 pts. earned=98.2%=A
89-85=B+ Example: 987 pts. earned=85.8%=B+
84-80=B
79-75=B-
74-70=C+
69-65=C
64-60=C-
59=D
58 and below=F
*****************************************************************************************************************************
UNACCEPTABLE ERRORS
In English 20, students should already be very proficient in word usage. We do not have time for grammar lessons. (I will, however, provide short ‘mini’ lessons when I feel they are warranted.) The following errors that are commonly made on student papers are considered unacceptable.

For out of class essays, each unacceptable error takes ten points off your final earned grade. You may correct unacceptable errors and receive the points back if you choose to revise. In class essays that have unacceptable errors CAN always be corrected to earn back the points lost.

1. there – place Put it over there.
2. their – possessive pronoun That is their car.
3. they’re – contraction of they are They’re going with us.
4. your – possessive pronoun Your dinner is ready.
5. you’re – contraction of you are You’re not ready.
6. it’s – contraction of it is It’s a sunny day.
7. its – possessive pronoun The dog wagged its tail.
8. a lot – always two words I liked it a lot.
9. to – a preposition or part of an
infinitive I like to proofread my essays carefully.
10. too – an intensifier, or also That is too much. I will go too.
11. two – a number Give me two folders.
12. In today’s society Instead use “Today” or “In America” or “Now” etc
13. right(s)/write(s)/rite(s) rights are a set of beliefs or values in which a person feels entitled: His rights were read to him before he was arrested for stalking Dave Matthews. Writes is a verb indicating action taken with a pen, pencil or computers to convey a message: Michelle writes love letters to Dave Matthews in her sleep. Rites are a series of steps or events which lead an individual from one phase in life to the next, or a series of traditions that should be followed: The initiate began his rite of passage ceremony at the age of thirteen.
14. definitely/defiantly This error USUALLY occurs when a writer relies solely on spell-check. You really must learn to become the final editor of your work. Definitely is an adverb and it means without a doubt. Mary will definitely miss the Dave Matthews Band concert. Defiantly means to show defiance. She was in a defiant mood. It is an adjective. Or it could be used as an adverb. She was defiantly rude and sullen towards the professor.
***********************************************************************
An accumulation of the following errors can affect your grade, but not one error, ten points down. The number depends on how serious the error is, and how often you make it. Some do not slow up the reader as much as others.
• Misuse of the word “you”. You must actually mean the reader when you use the word “you”.

• Avoid use of contractions in formal expository writing. (can’t, shouldn’t, didn’t, etc.)

• Agreement of subject and verb. Both must be either singular or plural.

• Fragmented sentences, comma splices and run-ons. Be sure to proofread your papers carefully before turning them in.

You will not pass English 20 if you cannot write an intelligent sentence in correct English.

July 5th, 2011--Tuesday evening

Greetings and congratulations for finding the class blog!

I will explain more about how the blog will be utilized when we meet on the first day of class, one week from today.

Those of you who are familiar with using SacCT, it will be similar to that. Except you will log in to this blog instead.

A few things to know before the first day:
1. There is no text to purchase for this class. There is ONE REQUIRED TEXT, but it is available on line and I will explain more about that on Tuesday.
2. In order to pass this class, you MUST have access to a computer and a printer. This is mandatory.

Before our first day of class, please become a follower of this blog. I also recommend that you bookmark this blog for easy access.

Enjoy the rest of your week, be safe, and I will see you in a week.

If you need to contact me for any reason, the best way is to email me at sacto1954@gmail.com

Professor Fraga