G e o f f r e y   D y e r ' s

English 71 Page

email me: gdyer@pc.cc.ca.us
call me: 510.967.7289

Newest Office Hours:

Tuesday & Thursday, LMC 18, 10:00-11:00am (or earlier by appointment);
Tuesday & Thursday, AC 107, 2:00-2:30pm (and later by appointment). 
Wednesday, 2:30-4:00pm in LMC 18.
 

My budding theorists, scholars, attorneys, neurosurgeons:

You must come to my office hour!  If you haven't turned in a complete first draft yet,
we really need to talk.  The 1st draft is the heaviest part of your grade to date.

 

Syllabus*:

*Please note that this is not set in stone.  If you are absent it is YOUR responsibility to verify missed work. 
It may differ from the assignment here.  There may be additional materials you will need, or extra assignments.
There will be concepts we will discuss and implement in class that the course materials will not contain.
The best thing to do is the simplest thing for everyone: COME TO CLASS!  Stay for the whole class!

Note: Assignments that are listed in black are due for class.
Assignments that appear in purple are activities scheduled to take place during class.
The assignments listed below each class date are DUE on that class date
 


Section One: The Contemplation of Destiny
The Illuminated Abyss of Analysis
 


Tuesday, 2/ 21
        Mosaics: pp 403- 406.  Complete Practice 10-15
        Continuation of Ubiquitous Fate discussion

Thursday, 2/23
        The Alchemist: pp 10-40. Reading test.
        Internal documentation lecture.  Factors impinging on Personal Legends.

Tuesday, 2/28
        Dr. Horace Mitchell speaks in CA-4 at 10:00am--15 E.C. points.
        (Attend and respond in a journal entry for extra credit)
        Mosaics: Read pp 206-212       
        “Race Pride.” W. E. B. DuBOIS. p 42
        “The White House” & "Lynching".  Claude McKay.  pp 354 & 355

Thursday, 3/2
       Mosaics: Complete evidence/Argument exercises from 210-212
        Journal entry comparing/contrasting DuBOIS’s & McKay’s attitudes.
        Examine & Discuss model essays.
        “A Boy named Sue.” Shel Silverstien (sung by Johnny Cash).  Listen & discuss.


Tuesday, 3/7
        “A Brain in a Vat”.  John Pollock.  pp 152-153.  Reading Test! Brain In A Vat PDF DOWNLOAD.
        Journal entry on “A Boy named Sue.”

Thursday, 3/9
        Alchemist: pp 40-92

Tuesday, 3/14
        Mosaics: pp 408-413; Complete Practice sections 1-9

Thursday, 3/16
        Journal: Who, in your opinion, won the in-class debate?  Why?
        Mosaics: pp 412-414; Complete practice problems
        Alchemist: pp 92-123
        Mid-term overview!
        Discursive terminology of Existentialism


Tuesday, 3/21
        “Free Will, Self Construction, and Anguish” (excerpt).  Jean Paul Sartre. p 458
        Journal due on Alchemist reading (does it change your essay idea?)

Thursday, 3/23
        Mosaics:  pp 245-250 (read)
        Sartre argument due (one paragraph)
        “John Brown”.  Bob Dylan.  “Mama Tried”.  Merle Haggard.
        Family & Civic duties pertaining to personal Destiny

       

Tuesday, 3/28
        Alchemist:  complete.
        Mosaics: pp 245-248, complete using YOUR destiny essay (do NOT do "ORGANIZATION, number2. on p 248.
                  Your thesis does NOT need to be at the end of your first Paragraph ( Thesis Statement, number 2, Basic
                  Elements, number 2, pp246); you don't need to change your essay with the new example you find for
                  Development, number 5, on 247.  Think of that exxample; write it in the assignment, and consider using
                  it for your final draft). 
        Alchemist Reading test.
        Mid-Term review

Thursday, 3/30
        Topic Orientation for China Research Assignment (topic due on 4/18)      
        Revising Destiny Essay workshop


Tuesday, 4/4
        MID-TERM: Part I

Thursday, 4/6
        MID-TERM: Part II
        Revised, Final Draft of Destiny Essay due!!!! 


Spring Break!

Section II: Moral Obligations
Research: That Evolved Mighty Creature
 

Tuesday, 4/18

       China Topics due
       Mosaics: pp 384-390; Complete all Practice questions through Practice 6 (originally due march 30th)
       China research assignment overview
       Destiny essay debrief

Thursday, 4/20
       Research Orientation with reference Librarian Lori Barker

Tuesday, 4/25

       Mosaics: pp 431-438 Practice Problems 1-10B
      
“The Game of Life” & “Chatty Cathy Villanelle”.  David Trinidad, pp 33 & 45.
       Journal:  What are some recurring themes and objects in the poems “The Game of Life”
                      & “Chatty Cathy Villanelle” by David Trinidad? 
       Bibliography overview.

Thursday, 4/27

         Mosaics: pp 438-445 Practice Problems 11-21
        “The Red Wheelbarrow”, William Carlos Williams, p 72. 
                      “in –Just”, e.e. Cummings, p 129.
         Three research sources due. 

Tuesday, 5/2

         Overview of Short Literary Analysis/Close reading Essay.
        
Comma rules
         Discussion:  What is the problem you are researching in China?  What are some
                           of its causes?  What are the effects?

 Thursday, 5/6

         Mosaics: 539-545  Practices 1-10
         First Paragraph of China Paper due.
        

Tuesday, 5/9

         Mosaics: 546-551  Practices 10-18
         Analysis paragraphs of China Paper due

Thursday, 5/11

         Prepositions
         Reader: And You Shall Know our Velocity.  pp 30-35.
         Journal entry: what tragedy occurred in the reading?  How is the protagonist
                 dealing/not dealing with it?
         China Paper Due!

Tuesday, 5/16

         Prepositions/reflexive pronous
         Reader: “Sonnet 64” & “Sonnet 81”, Shakespeare.  “XIII” & “A Certain Slant of
                  Sunlight”, Ted Berrigan.
         Journal entry: Who is your favorite poet thus far?  Why?

Tuesday, 5/18

         Journal--write a paragraph about a single poem from class that you like or pretend to like
         Reflexive pronouns
         Rough draft of Literary Analysis/Close reading Essay due.
         Final exam review!

Final draft of Literary Analysis/Close Reading Essay due on the day of your final!