Eng 102 BA, Composition 2, M & W 8-9:15, G 201, CRN: 41040

Prof. Esposito, M.A., M.F.A.

Office: Room 235, Bradley Hall Office Hours: M & W, 11-12:15 or by appointment. For face to
face classes, office hours will be held in my office. For remote courses, they can be held via
email or Zoom.
Seminar Hours: Tuesday 10-11:15 & W 9:30-10:45. For face to face classes, office hours will be
held in my office. For remote courses, they will be held via Zoom.
Office Phone: (516) 572-7185 ext. 25633 English Department Phone: (516) 572-7185
E-mail: [email protected]
All course materials are posted on Blackboard.

Writing Center:

For face to face courses: The Writing Center, located in Bradley Hall and the Library, offers one-
on-one tutoring as well as workshops. For remote courses, check with The Writing Center to see
if Zoom conferencing is available. Bradley Hall: 516-572-7195 Library: 516-572-3595
[email protected] www.ncc.edu/writingcenter

A Note to All Students: If the college permits access to campus, & if you are having difficulty
affording groceries or accessing sufficient food to eat every day or if you lack basic necessities
and believe this may affect your performance in the course, I urge you to visit The NEST @ NCC
Food Pantry in North Hall (N Bldg) Basement. The NEST provides free groceries and personal
care items to all NCC students and their families and can assist you in accessing other necessary
resources. The NEST is open 6 days a week. Hours can be found on the NCC Portal and posted
on the door of the pantry. Please visit The NEST’s website for further
information: http://nestncc.weebly.com

Course Policies: (where any of these policies related to student conduct are seriously breeched,
the Classroom Disruption Policy will be enacted).

Lateness & Leaving: For face to face courses: regarding lateness, take responsibility & be here on
time. If you are forced to be late, enter quietly & take the nearest seat to the door. Regarding
leaving the classroom during class, I expect you shouldn’t have to very often. Should lateness
(especially by more than 10 minutes) or leaving the classroom for an extended period of time
become chronic, it will lower your participation grade. In cases where bus schedules, delayed
buses or where a student must depend on an unreliable ride are ongoing, certain dispensations are
possible. Please see me immediately if said circumstances apply. For remote courses: you are
expected to sign onto the class at the time the class begins & mainatin your presence visually
throughout the entirety of the class.

Academic Dishonesty: Academic Honesty: Plagiarism, cheating, or other forms of academic

dishonesty on any assignment will result in failure (a grade of zero) for that assignment and may
result in further disciplinary action, including but not limited to failure of the course and
dismissal from the college. See the Nassau Community College policy on Academic Dishonesty
& Plagiarism.

Incompletes: Will only be given in cases of extraordinary circumstances.

Late papers / writing prompts: I don't accept late papers or writing prompts, & unless my
emergency clause is correctly utilized, I do not accept email submission of either. For both
remote & ftf courses, papers are due by the prescribed deadline on Turn It In. Instructions for
accessing the course on Turn It In will be given in class.
Emergency Clause: Every paper due date is a hard deadline. If you don’t submit the paper on
time, you fail, & I will not discuss reasons unless the following emergency clause is utilized. If
some emergency should occur which prevents you from getting work in on time, you can let me
know any time up until 15 minutes prior to the time the assignment is due to be submitted. Please
contact me via email. If your techniology is busted, down, or whatever, & you cannot use email,
you must contact the English Department & speak with one of the secretaries, who will mark
down the time of your call requesting an extension. If you follow this emergency clause, & I
determine your emergency is legitimate, I will grant an extension, which in most cases will be no
more than 12-24 hours. If the assignment is not handed in within the new time frame, you fail. I
expect you to take your work in the course seriously. Real emergencies which affect your ability
to hand work in on time are different than lies or excuses about why you did not turn in your
work. Honest communication with me is crucial.
Unpreparedness: I’ll mark down every missed assignment. Each one over the maximum (three)
will lower your final grade a half-letter. In addition, if at any point during the semester half or
more of the students in attendance are unprepared (reading assignment, textbook or a copy of
assigned text, completion of the writing prompts), those students who are unprepared will be
moved to one half of the room or placed within their own breakout group on Zoom to read
quietly. They will be marked as unprepared, & I will only teach to the prepared students.
Attendance: You are allowed 5 absences (2 for courses meeting once a week). If you are absent
six times (3 for classes meeting once a week), you cannot successfully complete the course. In
this case, you will have earned a UW or F grade, & I will discuss options for withdrawal with
individual students. Please know that there will be no discussions regarding the nature of said
absences. You must balance emergencies & non-emergencies. In cases where there are serious
medical or family related issues & a withdrawal or incomplete is not a viable option, if the
student stays current with assignments & is in ongoing contact with me, dispensations can be
worked out. Please note that this option is only for students with serious issues. Please see me
immediately if said circumstances apply.
Classroom Behavior: For face to face courses: please, in my course, comport yourselves like
adults. “Disruptive conduct that interferes with the instructor’s performance of his/her
professional functions or that undermines the integrity of student learning will not be tolerated."
For remote courses, the above applies as well as the rules for comportment detailed in the remote
instruction requirements detailed below.
Withdrawal Policy: For whatever reason you decide the course is not for you, make every effort
to withdraw before the withdrawal deadline. There are many cases for which I’d rather give you
a W than an F. Before the withdrawal deadline, you may withdraw without my signature;
afterward, it’s your responsibility to meet with me about the withdrawal option. If you don’t
meet with me & you disappear from class, you will receive a UW or F grade for the semester.
Disability Policy: Center for Students With Disabilities: If you have a physical, psychological,
medical, or learning disability that may have an impact on your ability to carry out the assigned
coursework, I urge you to contact the Center for Students with Disabilities (CSD), Building U,
(516 572-7241), TTY (516) 572-7617. The counselors at CSD will review your concerns and
determine reasonable accommodations you are entitled to by the Americans with Disabilities Act
and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. All information and documentation pertaining
to personal disabilities (diagnoses) will be kept confidential. Students are responsible for
completing all related paperwork correctly, scheduling accommodations, and supplying forms to
me in a timely fashion.
Phones: Unless I give you permission to have it on for reading texts or for research purposes,
silence your phone in my class. Anyone using the phone or similar device for any non-approved
reason will be asked to leave the room or will be removed from the Zoom conversation.

Requirements for successful participation in a remote course:

If the class is conducted face to face, the normal rules related to course materials & modalities as
outlined in my syllabus will be followed. If the course is taught remotely, every student will have
to have:

Access to a computer, smart phone, iPad, etc.

Zoom installed on said device.

Familiarity with or willingness to learn how to use / navigate Blackboard for course handouts,
writing prompts via Discussion Board, announcements, email, etc.

(for either face to face or remote courses) An account established with Turnitin.com in order to
access your specific course & submit assigned papers. I will provide the appropriate information
to each class so students can access their course.

(for either face to face or remote courses) The assigned text(s) available in either digital or print
format.

Policies for Zoom discussions:

If the class is conducted face to face, classroom comportment as outlined in my syllabus & the
classroom disruption policy will be followed. If the course is taught remotely, classroom
comportment, especially as related to successful & engaged remote discussions, means that
students use Zoom appropriately. This requires:

You agree to no recording of Zoom meetings. Because of privacy laws, no Zoom meetings will
be recorded by you or myself.

I prefer to be able to see my students. We cannot get to know each other, & the class cannot
become a cohesive community unless we can all see one another. Nonetheless, I’m aware that
there are often issues in the home that require privacy. Should said issues require you to turn
your camera off, you are free to do so. Please know that I will check to make certain that students
whose cameras are off are present. If you are not, this will affect your absences as well as your
participation grade.

As students, you are required to make choices. Please approach your Zoom camera choices with
the integrity & seriousness that are required in a college classroom.

The same goes for your use of the microphone. If background noise is overwhelming, please
mute your microphone. I will often ask questions of the entire class, & since discussion of
literature is crucial to understanding it, you need to be prepared to listen when a classmate is
speaking & to respond when they are done. Open discussion with all students unmuted will often
be necessary, but managing your background noise is essential to a successful open discussion.

Required Text:
Kelly J. Mays, Editor. The Norton Introduction To Literature, Shorter 13th
Edition. New York: Norton, 2019.

Catalog Description:

This course is an introduction to writing about literature. The course is designed for students to
practice close reading and organizing evidence to support their written interpretation and analysis
of literary texts. The course offers students continued practice in drafting, revising, and editing
essays. A primary goal for students is to produce clear, well-developed, well-organized,
grammatical writing. For at least one essay, students use research materials. SUNY GEN ED-
GBCM, GHUM; NCC GEN ED-COMP, HUM: Pre-requisites: ENG 100 or 101 or 108

Professor's Course Description:

The essential content of this course will be clarified during the next sixteen weeks. However, I
must, at least, describe a bit about the course goal. It is to learn about selected literature, studying
themes, literary devices, the historical context surrounding the literature, biographical & literary
scholarship related to the literature, etc. Toward this end, you’ll be reading selected fiction,
poetry, & drama. Will read a varity of literature, mostly American, from the American
Romanticism, Realism / Naturalism, Modernism, Harlem Renaissance, & Contemporary periods.
A goal of the course is also to help you further develop reflective / thoughtful college-level, thesis
driven prose. You will be, via your own time & class conferences, writing responses to prompts,
taking notes, & writing short analytical papers on the texts we read.

What you put in is what you’ll get out. I promise to put in more than 100% of my heart & head.
Please do the same.

Please note that the literature we will read in this course & the discussions we will have about
said texts will ask you to explore societal, social, psychodynamic, & emotional aspects of your
lives. These subjects are often charged with content you may not have examined before. Please
be prepared to handle these subjects / discussions as adult, college students.

Graded Assignments:

Participation: There are three participation grades in the course, Each grade will be factored into
your final grade. (See grade percentages below). Factors considered for, but not limited to,
grading participation are:

Writing prompts: (participation): See writing prompt handout.

First draft / Questions (participation): For both face to face & remote courses, a developing draft
along with prepared questions is due, typed, (to be worked on in class) during end of unit
conferences. See paper assignment handouts for more information. Also, see the sample question
handout for more information. If this draft & related materials are not in hand on the due date,
your participation grade will be lowered, depending on what's missing.

Papers: There are three paper grades in the course. Each grade will be factored into your final
grade (see grade percentages below).
Note: Your second paper is a rewrite of paper one. The rewrite is required, even if you’re
satisfied with your paper one grade. For both face to face & remote courses: on the first
conference day of unit two, you are required to have made revisions to paper one based on my
comments, to have prepared questions re. my comments, & to have done some writing toward the
additional analysis required for the rewrite. If these assignments are not in hand on the first unit
two conference day, your participation grade will be lowered, depending on what's missing.
Again, read the unit paper handouts for specifics. The grade you receive on the paper one rewrite
will replace the grade you receive on paper one. However, if you don’t turn in paper one, you fail
(this grade will remain a zero), & you are not eligible for paper one rewrite. In such a case, the
student will have to write a separate paper for a grade on what would have been your rewrite
paper.

Late Papers: I don’t give a midterm or a final in this course. You write three papers all semester
long, the second being a rewrite of the first. Each receives a grade. You have an ample amount
of time to evolve your thinking, your ideas, & to turn in your work. Every paper due date is a
hard deadline. If you don’t submit the paper on time, you fail, & I will not discuss excuses with
students: period. I don't accept late work unless the emergency clause is utilized.

Grade Percentages:

There are six grades in the courses: three paper grades & three participation grades. Each of these
grades is worth a 1/6 of your final grade, roughly 16 percent.

I grade on the cumulative scale according to gpa. As stated above, you are held responsible for
six total grades in the course. Thus, should you receive a A, A, B, B, A, A for these six grades,
the letter grades would translate to an 4, 4, 3, 3, 4, 4 on the cumlulative gpa scale. These numbers
add up to 22. 22 divided by 6 (total grades) roughly equals a 3.8, which is a B+. The writing
prompt extra credit, if awarded, is worth 2 points. Based on this example example, the extra
credit would bring your points to 24. Twenty four divided by 6 equals a 4.0, which is an A. I
don't bump up grades. The total points you earn equal the grade you recieve. In certain cases, if
a student has shown exceptional work on a final paper, his or her effort has been outstanding, &
said student is one point away from receiving the higher grade, I might bump said student's grade
up. But you should not count on it.

Grade Point Spread:

F: 0-5

D: 6-8

D+: 9-11

C: 12-14

C+: 15-17

B: 18-20

B+: 21-23
A: 24

Course Goals and Outcomes

Writing Competency: to produce precise, clear, grammatically-correct, well-

developed,
and well-organized writing appropriate to academic, social, and occupational
fields;
Outcomes: Students will produce coherent texts within common college level
forms and revise and improve such texts.
Critical Thinking: to be able to question information and to use reason to
determine what to believe or what to do; Outcomes: Students will identify,
analyze, and evaluate arguments as they occur in their own and others’ work and
develop well-reasoned arguments.
Informational Literacy: to locate, evaluate, and incorporate relevant source
materials into the construction of an argument or informed point of view; 
Outcomes:  Students will access and utilize basic computer and internet functions,
demonstrating appropriate and effective utilization of programs and
functions; use basic research techniques, demonstrating appropriate, effective
research skills;  locate, evaluate, organize, and synthesize information from a
variety of sources on a specific topic to support an argument; and apply ethical
and legal standards for use of source information, demonstrating the application
of accepted ethical and legal restrictions on the use of published works.  
Humanities Competency: to understand the conventions and practices of English
Studies;
Outcomes: Students are able to analyze or interpret texts, ideas, discourse
systems, and the human values they reflect.

Course Schedule:

Jan:

24th: Introductions, welcomes, & such

26th: Read Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown’” pdf on BB
31st: Unit 1 Read 385-396, Hawthorne, “The Birth-Mark”

Feb:
2nd: Read 173-179, Poe's "The Cask of Amontillado"
7th: Read 571-582, Gilman, “The Yellow Wallpaper”
9th: Read 568-570, Chopin, “The Story of an Hour”
14th: Read 433-450, Crane, “The Open Boat"
16th: Read 665-668, Hemingway, “Hills Like White Elephants”
21st: Presidents’ Day Holiday
23rd: Read Hemingway’s “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place” pdf in the course materials
folder on BB
28th: Read 91-113, Baldwin, “Sonny’s Blues

March:

2nd: Unit 1 Optional Conference Paper 1 due

7th: Unit 2 Read 1139-1143, Eliot's “The Love Song of J. Alfred
 Prufrock”
9th: Read Read 892-893 & 1143-1144, Frost's "The Road Not Taken" &
"Stopping by Wood on a Snowy Evening"
14th: Read 1073-1074, Hughes, "Harlem" & "The Weary Blues" & 1075, "I,
Too"
16th: Unit 2 Optional Conference Paper1 rewrite due
21st: Spring Break
23rd: Sring Break
28th: Read 1152-1154, Plath, “Lady Lazarus” & read Read 1103-1105,
Plath, “Daddy"
30th: Unit 3 Read 1496-1506, “Cultural and Historical Contexts: Lorraine
Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun”

April:

4th: Read 1506-1523, Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun

6th: Read 1523-1544, Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun
11th: Read 1544-1559, Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun
13th: Read 1559-1570, Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun
18th: Secondary source assignment on housing segregation on Long
Island
20th: Secondary source A Raisin in the Sun
25th: Watch A Raisin in the Sun
27th: Watch A Raisin in the Sun

May:

2nd: Discussion of performance

4th: Unit 3 Optional Confereces
9th: Unit 3 Optional Confereces Paper 2 due
11th: Optional conferences
16th: Optional Conferences by appt.