10.12.13

Digital Guides



Study Guide Technical Writing
Instructor Knapp: Study Guide Technical Writing
Study Guide for Students of Engineering 100w. Engineering students: You do not need to purchase the print copy as we will only be utilizing the digital version in our computer lab. Feel free to download the PDF to read on your desktop (it's easier to navigate). However, I update the study guide…

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College Reading
38 pages, published 8/15/2013
Complete interactive, multi-media course reader includes research-based lessons, key strategies, external reading links and assignments that prepare students for college-level reading and writing. Supports implementation of Common Core Language Arts Standards. Literature provided, but an informational text can be selected by instructor, or chosen through student interest in topic areas. Culminates in student run book club projects and…
College Composition
16 pages, published 8/8/2013
This course reader includes materials and lessons for an advanced composition course. Online links to reading and lessons can be utilized as classroom lectures via a projector or assigned as homework. Includes an overview of the essentials of rhetoric and composition, three complete customizable essay assignments with corresponding peer review cover sheets, and related lessons, links and directions scaffolded to build rhetorical knowledge.…
College Reading 2
Instructor Knapp: College Reading 2
College Reading 2 has the same critical reading support as College Reading only without the fiction components making it an ideal supplement to support reading in any content course. College Reading 2 builds reading knowledge and works in conjunction with assigned informational texts. Includes…

1.8.13

Welcome to Fall 2013!

Dear SJSU 100a Students,

I am looking forward to helping you achieve your goals this semester! Please note that I use this blog and my website for all of my college courses, so there is no need to read through any other posts here (Of course, feel free to browse all you want!).

What I do need you to do is to download your course syllabus and order the Course Reader.

Please purchase the 100a Reader at the link below TODAY. You should buy the print version, which comes with a free digital version. You will need both the print (to bring with you to class) and the digital (to complete online homework assignments). Order the print version today to insure that you have the Reader when we begin using it in class. 

I have posted a copy of the English 100a course syllabus for this semester at the following link. If you lose your copy during the semester, then please download and print another copy. Please click this link and scroll down to the attachments (at the bottom of the page) to download your class fall 2013  course syllabus. All students are required to print and bring a copy of the course syllabus to the first day of class and to each subsequent meeting. 

Together, we will make this a great semester!

English 100a Reader
40 pages, published 8/1/2013
Complete Reader for students of English 100a. This reader includes an overview of rhetoric and includes instructions for all three essay assignments, peer review cover sheets, student model papers and associated learning links and lessons. Essay assignments include: Rhetorical Analysis Essay, Discipline Investigation Essay and Critical Reading Reflection Essay for Mike Rose's Lives on the Boundary. Students should buy the print and download the…

26.6.13

Summer Reading



Where I will be this summer and what I will be reading: Squaw Valley Community of Writers

Summer Reading Flowchart

14.5.13

Welcome to Composition 1a


Keys to Successful College Writing



Here are eight habits of mind essential for success in college writing:
* Curiosity – the desire to know more about the world.
* Openness – the willingness to consider new ways of being and thinking in the world.
* Engagement – a sense of investment and involvement in learning.
* Creativity – the ability to use novel approaches for generating, investigating, and representing ideas.
* Persistence – the ability to sustain interest in and attention to short- and long-term projects.
* Responsibility – the ability to take ownership of one’s actions and understand the consequences of those actions for oneself and others.
* Flexibility – the ability to adapt to situations, expectations, or demands.
* Metacognition – the ability to reflect on one’s own thinking as well as on the individual and cultural processes used to structure knowledge.
Source: Framework for Success in Postsecondary Writing Council of Writing Program Administrators





Link to 1A Blogosphere Spring 2013

 Instructor Knapp Website

20.4.13

Homework Update: For the Post Due Sunday, April 21


Since we were not able to practice the RA in class using the Rereading America articles on Thursday as planned, I would like to give you a different option for Sunday's post.

If you feel comfortable analyzing one of the articles rhetorically (which means identifying the purpose, audience, and identifying the modes the author used to convey his/her message using the handout that I gave you), then by all means go ahead and post a RA, but if this sounds daunting, then, alternatively, please respond to the following prompt in your post:


If I could change anything in my society/community, I would change...

Writing on this prompt will hopefully lead you toward the topic of your Final Formal paper, in which you will argue persuasively for or against something. Please read the assignment description handout for more information on this project.

In class, we will continue discussing the themes of gender, violence, family and culture, only this time we will critically examine American culture, so you might want to think about these topic areas when you write on Sunday.

Also, I have created a wall that I would like ALL of you to 'graffiti' by adding a brief response to the above prompt. To graffiti the wall, all you do is click on the wall and enter your name and writing in the box that appears.


Here is the link to the Composition1a Wall


19.4.13

Don't Forget to Be Happy Today!


You Happy

Document Actions
Read this article in Spanish. Lea este artículo en español
Scientists can tell us how to be happy. Really. Here are 10 ways, with the research to prove it.
Click on each number to see the 10 Things Science Says Will Make You Happy.

10 Things Science Says Will Make You Happy
YES! MAGAZINE INTERACTIVE GRAPHIC, 2008. Photo by Niko Guido, istock.
In the last few years, psychologists and researchers have been digging up hard data on a question previously left to philosophers: What makes us happy? Researchers like the father-son team Ed Diener and Robert Biswas-Diener, Stanford psychologist Sonja Lyubomirsky, and ethicist Stephen Post have studied people all over the world to find out how things like money, attitude, culture, memory, health, altruism, and our day-to-day habits affect our well-being. The emerging field of positive psychology is bursting with new findings that suggest your actions can have a significant effect on your happiness and satisfaction with life. Here are 10 scientifically proven strategies for getting happy.
Savor Everyday Moments
Pause now and then to smell a rose or watch children at play. Study participants who took time to “savor” ordinary events that they normally hurried through, or to think back on pleasant moments from their day, “showed significant increases in happiness and reductions in depression,” says psychologist Sonja Lyubomirsky.
Avoid Comparisons
While keeping up with the Joneses is part of American culture, comparing ourselves with others can be damaging to happiness and self-esteem. Instead of comparing ourselves to others, focusing on our own personal achievement leads to greater satisfaction, according to Lyubomirsky.
Put Money Low on the List
People who put money high on their priority list are more at risk for depression, anxiety, and low self-esteem, according to researchers Tim Kasser and Richard Ryan. Their findings hold true across nations and cultures. “The more we seek satisfactions in material goods, the less we find them there,” Ryan says. “The satisfaction has a short half-life—it’s very fleeting.” Money-seekers also score lower on tests of vitality and self-actualization.
Have Meaningful Goals
“People who strive for something significant, whether it’s learning a new craft or raising moral children, are far happier than those who don’t have strong dreams or aspirations,” say Ed Diener and Robert Biswas-Diener. “As humans, we actually require a sense of meaning to thrive.” Harvard’s resident happiness professor, Tal Ben-Shahar, agrees, “Happiness lies at the intersection between pleasure and meaning. Whether at work or at home, the goal is to engage in activities that are both personally significant and enjoyable.”
Take Initiative at Work
How happy you are at work depends in part on how much initiative you take. Researcher Amy Wrzesniewski says that when we express creativity, help others, suggest improvements, or do additional tasks on the job, we make our work more rewarding and feel more in control.
Make Friends, Treasure Family
Happier people tend to have good families, friends, and supportive relationships, say Diener and Biswas-Diener. But it’s not enough to be the life of the party if you’re surrounded by shallow acquaintances. “We don’t just need relationships, we need close ones” that involve understanding and caring.
Smile Even When You Don’t Feel Like It
It sounds simple, but it works. “Happy people…see possibilities, opportunities, and success. When they think of the future, they are optimistic, and when they review the past, they tend to savor the high points,” say Diener and Biswas-Diener. Even if you weren’t born looking at the glass as half-full, with practice, a positive outlook can become a habit.
Say Thank You Like You Mean It
People who keep gratitude journals on a weekly basis are healthier, more optimistic, and more likely to make progress toward achieving personal goals, according to author Robert Emmons. Research by Martin Seligman, founder of positive psychology, revealed that people who write “gratitude letters” to someone who made a difference in their lives score higher on happiness, and lower on depression—and the effect lasts for weeks.
Get Out and Exercise
A Duke University study shows that exercise may be just as effective as drugs in treating depression, without all the side effects and expense. Other research shows that in addition to health benefits, regular exercise offers a sense of accomplishment and opportunity for social interaction, releases feel-good endorphins, and boosts self-esteem.
Give It Away, Give It Away Now!
Make altruism and giving part of your life, and be purposeful about it. Researcher Stephen Post says helping a neighbor, volunteering, or donating goods and services results in a “helper’s high,” and you get more health benefits than you would from exercise or quitting smoking. Listening to a friend, passing on your skills, celebrating others’ successes, and forgiveness also contribute to happiness, he says. Researcher Elizabeth Dunn found that those who spend money on others reported much greater happiness than those who spend it on themselves.