Ms. Chuc  
Masters in Fine Arts in Creative Writing
Email: tcd3942@lausd.net

John F. Kennedy High School - 2020 to 2021 School Year (Spring Semester)
Architecture/Digital Design/Filmmaking Magnet
Expository Composition

Student/Parent Office Hours: Tues., Wed., Thurs., Fri. from 2:20 p.m. to 2:50 p.m.  
Zoom Meeting ID: 850 8283 2057
Passcode: KENNEDY
Email/message Ms. Chuc via Schoology or Remind to schedule an appointment.
Email: tcd3942@lausd.net

Dear Parents, Guardians, and Students:

It is my pleasure to welcome you to the Expository Composition course.  Each session of the Expository Composition course is 45 minutes of synchronous instruction and the remainder is asynchronous. It is a course that focuses on non-fiction (expository) reading and writing skills.  This course is designed to better prepare students for the type of expository reading and writing skills that they need to be successful in college and the workplace.  The goal of the Expository Composition course is to prepare college-bound seniors for the literacy demands of higher education. Through a sequence of rigorous instructional modules, students in this yearlong, rhetoric-based course develop advanced proficiencies in expository, analytical, and argumentative reading and writing.   Modules also provide instruction in research methods and documentation conventions.  Students will be expected to increase their awareness of the rhetorical strategies employed by authors and to apply those strategies in their own writing.  The conventions of usage and grammar, skills in listening and speaking, and vocabulary growth will also be emphasized.

Students: Please make sure that you have working technology and a workspace to log onto synchronous and asynchronous zoom meetings. If you do not have the proper technology to do your work including wifi, please let me or your counselor know asap. Students are expected to download ebooks or pdfs as necessary. Students will be using Google Classroom, No Red Ink and other online platforms.

Objectives:
Students in Expository Composition will...
Analyze an author’s use of rhetorical devices, patterns of organization, and word choice
Analyze an author’s explicit and implicit viewpoints
Critique and/or defend an author’s arguments by referring to and citing the text
Formulate personal viewpoints and make claims based on the text
Develop multiple academic and analytical essays in MLA format that are focused and persuasive
Revise writing to improve argument and organization, and revise the work of peers
Cite sources using MLA format in a works cited page
Record rubric scores for each essay in order to reflect and improve on subsequent essays
Practice strategies for on-demand timed essay tests

MLA format:  https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/24/

Organization:
Expository Composition is designed so that every unit follows the same sequential method of rhetorical reading and writing.  Each topic we explore will take 2-4 weeks, depending on the length of the readings and will follow this sequence.
Reading Rhetorically (strategies and activities for Pre-Reading, Reading, and Post-Reading)
Connecting Reading to Writing (strategies and activities for Referencing Text, Negotiating Voices)
Writing Rhetorically (strategies and activities for Pre-writing, Writing, Revising, Editing, Evaluating)
 

Textbook: Expository Composition, Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer
Texts: Inaugural speeches and other important historical speeches
 
Students will be using Google Classroom to complete essays and other writing assignments and No Red Ink for grammar practice. Additional assignments will include the use of Flipgrid, a video discussion app. If student and/or parent does not choose to do video recordings for discussion, please notify the teacher and an alternative method of completing the assignment will be provided.

Grading Scale:
A - 90 to 100% B - 80 to 89% C - 70 to 79% D - 60 to 69% F - 0 to 59%
Classwork - 30%  Essays - 30%  Tests/Quizzes/Projects - 30%  Homework - 10% (of total grade)

Cell phone policy: Cell phones should be used for purposes of on-task assignments only.

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I have read and understand the policies for Ms. Chuc’s Expository Composition Course. I am aware that literature related movies rated PG may occasionally have strong language or some suggestive material. I give permission for my student to watch clips from various literature related movies, news, political or satirical programs, including movies based on literature such as Into the Wild. (Rated R material would require approval from the principal and separate permission slips).