English 201A and 201B

English 201A and 201B are two 9-week entry-level English classes which include in-class time to practice college-level reading and writing, and offer focused support with writing paragraphs and essays. These courses are noncredit and FREE to students, but do not count toward an AA or AS degree. They are not transferable, but students may earn a Certificate of Competency by completing both. They are graded Pass/No Pass, and are designed to prepare students for success in their college-level courses that involve reading and writing. They are often chosen by:

• students who prefer a moderate pace and learning step by step
• students who did not get a lot of experience reading and writing in high school
• students who want to refresh reading and writing skills typically taught in high school
• students who want a short-term course to practice their English skills
• students who prefer instruction in English vocabulary and comprehension
• students who would like more time and support before taking English 1 (college English)

The following is a short excerpt from the text Hunger of Memory, by Richard Rodriguez

Chapter One

I remember to start with that day in Sacramento-a California now nearly thirty years past-when I first entered a classroom, able to understand some fifty stray English words.

The third of four children, I had been preceded to a neighborhood Roman Catholic school by an older brother and sister. But neither of them had revealed very much about their classroom experiences.

Each afternoon they returned, as they left in the morning, always together, speaking in Spanish as they climbed the five steps of the porch. And their mysterious books, wrapped in shopping-bag paper, remained on the table next to the door, closed firmly behind them.

An accident of geography sent me to a school where all my classmates were white, many the children of doctors and lawyers and business executives. All my classmates certainly must have been uneasy on that first day of school-as most children are uneasy-to find themselves apart from their families in the first institution of their lives. But I was astonished.

The nun said, in a friendly but oddly impersonal voice, 'Boys and girls, this is Richard Rodriguez.' (I heard her sound out: Rich-heard Road-ree-guess.) It was the first time I had heard anyone name me in English. 'Richard,' the nun repeated more slowly, writing my name down in her black leather book. Quickly I turned to see my mother's face dissolve in a watery blur behind the pebbled glass door.

Rodriguez, Richard. Hunger of Memory: The Education of Richard Rodriguez: An Autobiography. Dial Press Trade Paperbacks, 2005.

Why Read? Essay Assignment #1

Assignment:

Write an analytical essay (approximately 3 pages) that interprets 3 of the essays we’ve read in our class reader. (Use MLA guidelines for citations and 12 point New Times Roman Font, 1-inch margins, double spaced).

Questions to Answer:

Over the last several weeks, we’ve been reading about different relationships to reading – reading to learn, reading to resist oppression, reading to improve oneself, reading as an expression of one’s identity, and reading to express cultural differences.

Choose 3 essays to explore the value of reading. In a world inundated by t.v., movies, the internet, how do these essays argue for picking up a book and engaging with it? What do these essays show about the gains achieved through reading? Is it worth the effort? How so?

Getting Started:

• Decide which 3 essays you would like to write about.
• Outline how each of the essays explores the question of why reading is important.
• Find evidence to support your arguments.
• Discover the relationships between the essays – are they similar, are they expanding on each other, are they conflicting with each other...
• Determine which essay you’ll write about 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, based on how you choose to develop your argument. Don’t order your paragraphs randomly. Think about how your arguments shift through the different essays. Conclude with the essay that seems to resolve your argument.

Selected Readings:

• “The Poets in the Kitchen,” from Reena and Other Stories by Paule Marshall
• “Sharon Cho,” from Speaking of Reading by Sharon Cho
• “Discovering Books,” from Black Boy: A Record of Childhood and Youth, by Richard Wright
• “Coming into Language,” from Doing Time: Twenty-Five Years of Prison Writing by Jimmy Santiago Baca
• “Aria: A Memoir of a Bilingual Childhood,” from Hunger of Memory: The Education of Richard Rodriguez by Richard Rodriguez
• “Learning to Read,” from The Autobiography of Malcolm X, by Malcolm X and Alex Haley
• “Learning to Read and Write,” from Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave by Frederick Douglass
• “India’s Literacy Miracle”
• “Interrogation,” from The Son the of the Revolution by Liang Heng and Judith Shapiro
• “Hip Hop Becoming a Worldwide Language of Youth Resistance”