English for Multilingual Artists & Designers (2024SP)

Parrots of Telegraph Hill

Writing 2: Seeing In Common (2024SP)

Steve Dickison: sdickison@cca.edu tel 510-301-3876

Class Meets: Monday & Thursday, Jan 18–May 2, 9:40–11:00 am, P2—80 Carolina
Office Hours: after class by request

For some people, to dream is to step outside of reality, relinquish the practical meaning of life. For others, however, there is no meaning to life unless informed by dreams, the place we go in search of songs, cures, inspiration, and even solutions to practical problems that befuddle and elude us in the daytime, but which are laid out in all their possibilities in the realm of dream. […] not as mere oneiric experience, but as a discipline related to our formation, to our cosmovision, to the traditions of different people who approach dreams as a path toward learning, self-knowledge, and awareness of life, and the application of that knowledge in our interaction with the world and other people. —Ailton Krenak, “Of Dreams and the Earth,” Ideas to Postpone the End of the World, 2020

COURSE DESCRIPTION: Writing 2 continues the work begun in Writing 1 on strengthening students' ability to write, read and discuss at the college level, with emphasis on literary and visual analysis, and research and argumentation skills. The course will revolve around a specific theme selected by the instructor.

SECTION DESCRIPTION (edited from what’s posted at CCA portal):

The notion of “seeing in common” takes social life as a crucial basis for how we encounter our mutual present, our distinctive and overlapping histories, and our collectively imagined futures. As creative persons who find ourselves together in shared space and time, imagining, experimenting, and making new work, we come to shape our plural forms of life alongside and with the help of friends and strangers. With materials common to us all, we'll work at voicing and fielding questions, navigating common concerns over our hard-to-grasp world, and finding ways to recognize and realize our beneficial interdependence. Student writing, putting shared resources into play, will move toward a final project devoted to each student's focused area of study.

Required reading. Every student must have a copy of the one required book. This work can be found in local bookstores, or can be ordered directly from the publisher. Please avoid ordering from giant conglomerates that put all creative work at risk. Bring the book to class when we’re working with it; the publisher’s E-book option is fine.

1) adrienne maree brown, Grievers (AK Press, Black Dawn Series, 2021) $15 paperback or $7.50 e-book available: https://www.akpress.org/grievers.html
+ Other required readings will be provided as print-outs, pdf, or web resources

Please note: Some of the works that we read or otherwise share in this class may contain challenging and potentially troubling material: depictions of acts of violence or self-harm, language that may be offensive, overtly sexual language, etc. Everyone is asked to consider these works as part of our collective study, and to help create an atmosphere of mutual respect and sensitivity.

(Continued on Syllabus)

Writing 2 [Multilingual Learner]: Seeing the Future (2024SP)

Writing 1 (2024SP)

Writing 1 [Multilingual Learner] Rediscover the Joy and Power of Reading and Writing (2024SP)

In this course, together we will rediscover that writing in a foreign language (English, in this case) can be a joyful and empowering process. As learners of English, we may have long suffered from examination-oriented English education that emphasizes rote memorization and forced practice while idolizing a “standard” way of speaking and writing in English. In this class, we will unshackle ourselves from these inefficient methods of how to learn English and biased views of what is “good” English. 

We will explore how reading for pleasure and immersing yourself in what genuinely interests you can be a powerful way of improving our English proficiency and becoming a better writer. We will also learn that resistance towards writing is normal and that developing a flexible process of writing that honors “bad” first drafts and value revision is key to overcoming writer’s block. More importantly, we will criticize the biased view that accent is undesirable and that sounding like a “standard” native speaker is the ultimate goal; instead, we will feel more confident in the diverse linguistic resources each of us bring and use the full repertoire of our multilingual abilities in our writing to create something unique and beautiful.

Writing 1 [Multilingual Learner] (2024SP)

Welcome to Writing 1!

Writing 1 [Multilingual Learner] is an introduction to college-level writing, reading, and discussion specifically designed for students who speak languages other than English as their native language.Throughout the course, you will delve into a diverse range of texts and participate in writing assignments that aim to enhance both self-expression and critical thinking skills. These assignments will encompass various types of college-level writing tasks, including argumentation, analysis, and research. The reading materials are strategically selected to provoke discussions and provide models that inspire students in their own writing endeavors.

 In this course, you'll embark on initial writing assignments that encourage you to explore language as a medium for personal expression, creativity, and imagination. As you progress, these expressive skills will be applied to practical writing tasks commonly encountered at the college level, including research, analysis, and argumentation. 

The selected reading materials are intended to stimulate discussion and offer models for your own writing endeavors. While the primary focus is on writing and reading, attention will also be given to informal discussion and developing skills in oral presentation.



Writing 2: Seeing the Arctic (2024SP)

Writing 2: Life Stories (2024SP)

Writing 2: Zeitgeist (2024SP)

"Zeitgeist" is defined as the "spirit of the age," the cultural, intellectual, ethical, spiritual, political climate where the writer, artist, scientist, student, citizen is working, influenced by it and contributing to it in a reciprocal loop. This course offers a selection of readings and practice writing in a variety of essay forms to develop skills of observation, description, creative thinking, critical thinking, new vocabulary, and the ability to articulate your stance about the state of the world and your potential contributions to the historical moment.

Writing 2 continues the work begun in Writing 1 on strengthening students' ability to write, read and discuss at the college level, with emphasis on literary and visual analysis, and research and argumentation skills. The course will revolve around a specific theme selected by the instructor.

Writing 2 (2024SP)