Make sure that you finish and submit all missing work to avoid "ignored" assignments. In some cases you will see a "zero" in the book to indicate a missing assignment. But there might still be some assignments I haven't looked at yet, so if you know they are missing, be sure to cover your tracks and get those in on Thursday.
Also, if there are any assignments on which you earned a very low grade and you want to improve them, you can turn in corrected versions of them (along with the original) on Thursday.
Between now and the final exam, you should devote yourself to practice every day. You can do this on your own, but you can also arrange times to work in person with me, including days next week.
First Day
Welcome to your English 2050 course! I hope this semester will be both fun and challenging for you! Your professor is Dr. Matthew Horton (that's me!). You can call me "Dr. H." Please ask me questions about the course and how I teach it! Getting to know your professor will help you succeed.
Read the syllabus
Read the Grading Contract
Check the calendar
Learn how to use Google Drive
Resources on Google Drive (I will share this with you)
The Novice Grammarian (I will share this with you)
You can access other resources by clicking the tabs above and the links on the right. Take some time to look around in this website. All the resources can help you, and there are policies and requirements to learn. My contact info is also in the right-hand margin. Always use UNG email to send me questions and the reason you might not be able to attend class.
This course is mostly about analyzing sentences, but you will also learn new technology. We will be using lots of actual paper to diagram sentences and do grammar exercises, but you will also use Google Drive to type some assignments and access resources! This might be a little scary, but technology skills are important to your future job!
Try one of these for a better browser:
Internet Explorer and Safari don't play well with Google Drive. Chrome is best! These buttons will take you to portable versions of the Firefox and Chrome that you can put on a USB drive, or you can search for a full install version in Google.
You will use Google Drive to write and share assignments:
You can keep track of online resources using this tool:
You can keep track of when you'll work on assignments using this tool:
You can learn how to type faster using this tool:
"Colorless green ideas sleep furiously."
"Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo."
Sentence Diagramming Forms
Stephen Fry vs. Grammar nazis
"Word Crimes"
Grammar's Great Divide: The Oxford Comma
Read the syllabus
Read the Grading Contract
Check the calendar
Learn how to use Google Drive
Resources on Google Drive (I will share this with you)
The Novice Grammarian (I will share this with you)
You can access other resources by clicking the tabs above and the links on the right. Take some time to look around in this website. All the resources can help you, and there are policies and requirements to learn. My contact info is also in the right-hand margin. Always use UNG email to send me questions and the reason you might not be able to attend class.
This course is mostly about analyzing sentences, but you will also learn new technology. We will be using lots of actual paper to diagram sentences and do grammar exercises, but you will also use Google Drive to type some assignments and access resources! This might be a little scary, but technology skills are important to your future job!
Try one of these for a better browser:
Internet Explorer and Safari don't play well with Google Drive. Chrome is best! These buttons will take you to portable versions of the Firefox and Chrome that you can put on a USB drive, or you can search for a full install version in Google. You will use Google Drive to write and share assignments:
You can keep track of online resources using this tool:
You can keep track of when you'll work on assignments using this tool:
You can learn how to type faster using this tool:
"Colorless green ideas sleep furiously."
"Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo."
Sentence Diagramming Forms
Stephen Fry vs. Grammar nazis
"Word Crimes"
Grammar's Great Divide: The Oxford Comma
Syllabus - Fall 2019
Description of Course
English 2050 is Standard English Grammar, a 3-credit hour, 2000-level course offered by the English Department in the College of Arts and Letters that fulfills an Area F requirement for English-related and Modern Languages majors at UNG. Note: Despite being a 2000-level course, English 2050 does not fulfill your Area C Literature requirement. You must have earned a "C" in English 1101 and English 1102 to take this course. English-related majors must earn a "B" in English 2050 for it to count.
This course can also fulfill an Area F requirement for subjects that permit some flexibility in course selection: Psychology, Middle Grades and Secondary Education, Journalism, Media Studies, Communication, and Anthropology. Some Bachelor's degrees offer General Elective space that this course could fill as well.
In this course, you can achieve the following goals:
English 2050 is Standard English Grammar, a 3-credit hour, 2000-level course offered by the English Department in the College of Arts and Letters that fulfills an Area F requirement for English-related and Modern Languages majors at UNG. Note: Despite being a 2000-level course, English 2050 does not fulfill your Area C Literature requirement. You must have earned a "C" in English 1101 and English 1102 to take this course. English-related majors must earn a "B" in English 2050 for it to count.
This course can also fulfill an Area F requirement for subjects that permit some flexibility in course selection: Psychology, Middle Grades and Secondary Education, Journalism, Media Studies, Communication, and Anthropology. Some Bachelor's degrees offer General Elective space that this course could fill as well.
In this course, you can achieve the following goals:
- Recognize the TEN basic sentence patterns
- Analyze syntax and word relationships
- Represent sentence forms using sentence diagrams
- Reflect on the purpose and value of Standard English Grammar
- Learn the basic parts of speech
- Learn the elements of syntax
- Parse the form and function of Standard English sentences
- Investigate Standard (and non-Standard) English usage
Calendar
Each item on the agenda can be clicked to reveal a description, if any. All assignments are due on their deadline days, but the times will vary depending on the assignment.
Readings
Most of your reading will come from the two books you will need this course:
There will also be readings from various online sources as the occasions arise.
Please check the calendar to know when readings are due. Whenever you see a reading for a particular day, you should be finished reading the assignment and taking notes by the time class begins. If there are exercises related to the reading, you must also have those finished and be prepared to ask questions during class. However, exercises do not count toward reading notes. Please type out the exercises in a clearly named Google Document, but draw any assigned diagrams on standard notebook or printer paper. Be ready to share your diagrams with your peers during class. You will do reading notes and exercises as proof that you have (a) done the reading and (b) prepared for discussion.
"50 Years of Stupid Grammar Advice"
"A Picture of Language"
"Why Teach Grammar?"
"The Wrong Way to Teach Grammar"
"Are You a Language Bully?"
"Inescapably, You're Judged By Your Language"
"What's Universal Grammar? Evidence Rebuts Chomsky's Theory of Language Learning"
"Descriptivism vs. Prescriptivism: War Is Over (If You Want It)"
"Does Grammar Matter?"
"Why Academics Stink at Writing"
"Science Says You Can Split Infinitives and Use the Passive Voice"
"A Picture Of Language: The Fading Art Of Diagramming Sentences"
"Punctuated Equilibrium"
"A Brief History of Diagramming Sentences"
"Grammarians in Hoodies"
"Mina Shaughnessy and the Teaching of Writing"
"Errors and Expectations: A Guide for the Teacher of Basic Writing"
"The Writing Revolution"
"Grammar Puss"
"False Fronts in the Language Wars"
"The English Wars"
"Why Teach English?"
"Death to High School English"
"Weird Al Just Committed the Greatest Word Crime of All"
"The Problem with Weird Al's 'Word Crimes'"
"'Word Crimes': Weird Al gets it. Why don't the grammar police?"
"25 Questions for Teaching with 'Word Crimes'"
- Essential English Grammar, by Phillip Gucker
- The Novice Grammarian, by Matthew Horton
There will also be readings from various online sources as the occasions arise.
Please check the calendar to know when readings are due. Whenever you see a reading for a particular day, you should be finished reading the assignment and taking notes by the time class begins. If there are exercises related to the reading, you must also have those finished and be prepared to ask questions during class. However, exercises do not count toward reading notes. Please type out the exercises in a clearly named Google Document, but draw any assigned diagrams on standard notebook or printer paper. Be ready to share your diagrams with your peers during class. You will do reading notes and exercises as proof that you have (a) done the reading and (b) prepared for discussion.
"50 Years of Stupid Grammar Advice"
"A Picture of Language"
"Why Teach Grammar?"
"The Wrong Way to Teach Grammar"
"Are You a Language Bully?"
"Inescapably, You're Judged By Your Language"
"What's Universal Grammar? Evidence Rebuts Chomsky's Theory of Language Learning"
"Descriptivism vs. Prescriptivism: War Is Over (If You Want It)"
"Does Grammar Matter?"
"Why Academics Stink at Writing"
"Science Says You Can Split Infinitives and Use the Passive Voice"
"A Picture Of Language: The Fading Art Of Diagramming Sentences"
"Punctuated Equilibrium"
"A Brief History of Diagramming Sentences"
"Grammarians in Hoodies"
"Mina Shaughnessy and the Teaching of Writing"
"Errors and Expectations: A Guide for the Teacher of Basic Writing"
"The Writing Revolution"
"Grammar Puss"
"False Fronts in the Language Wars"
"The English Wars"
"Why Teach English?"
"Death to High School English"
"Weird Al Just Committed the Greatest Word Crime of All"
"The Problem with Weird Al's 'Word Crimes'"
"'Word Crimes': Weird Al gets it. Why don't the grammar police?"
"25 Questions for Teaching with 'Word Crimes'"
Using Google Drive
You will use Google Drive for occasional writing assignments to prepare for discussion and for learning activities and grammar exercises from our textbooks (diagramming and reading notes will be done by hand). This online document creation and storage tool allows you to compose without any word processing software on your computer. The sharing feature allows you to share your work with me and your classmates.
In order for this tool to work for us, we will all have to cooperate, learn some new skills, and follow some rules. It might be a steep learning curve for some of you, but I think you'll be pleased with the results!
First, you'll need a Google account. If you have a Gmail account, then you already have a Google account, so all you need to do to get started is to sign in to Google Drive! If you don't have a Google account, the easiest way to start one is to sign up for Gmail! This link will allow you to designate a username for a Gmail account--I recommend using something like "LastName.FirstName" for your username.
Once you have your Google account, let me know the Gmail address you'll be using to sign into Google Drive.
Then, sign in to Google Drive and follow these steps:
In order for this tool to work for us, we will all have to cooperate, learn some new skills, and follow some rules. It might be a steep learning curve for some of you, but I think you'll be pleased with the results!
First, you'll need a Google account. If you have a Gmail account, then you already have a Google account, so all you need to do to get started is to sign in to Google Drive! If you don't have a Google account, the easiest way to start one is to sign up for Gmail! This link will allow you to designate a username for a Gmail account--I recommend using something like "LastName.FirstName" for your username.
Once you have your Google account, let me know the Gmail address you'll be using to sign into Google Drive.
Then, sign in to Google Drive and follow these steps:
- Create a folder called "Lastname.Firstname.2050.Assignments.F19"
- Share the folder with me and grant me "edit" privileges (use the Gmail sharing address I provided). You "share" by right-clicking on the folder and selecting "Share" from the menu. A window will pop up allowing you to type in the the Gmail address I gave you.
- Create a document in that folder called "Lastname.Firstname.My.Expectations.F19"
- Now open this document and write a 200-word response answering the following two questions about this course: Which elements of this course are you most looking forward to (read the website to learn what we'll be doing)? Which elements of this course are you most afraid of? Why?
- Create another document in the same folder called "Lastname.Firstname.My.Goals.F19"
- Now open this document and write a 200-word response to the following two items: What is your motivation to learn about Standard English Grammar? What approach will you use this semester to meet the requirements of this course?
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