Winter
2013, Monday, Wednesday, Friday, 10:00-10:50
Pepper
Canyon Hall 122
Instructor:
John
Moore
AP&M
4141
Email: moorej@ucsd.edu
phone: (858) 534-1155
Office
hours: Mondays and Tuesdays 12:00-1:00
and by appointment
TAs:
Christopher Barkley
Email: chbarkley@ucsd.edu
Office
hour: Mondays 11:00-11:50 (AP&M
3351E)
Section: Mondays 2:00-2:50 (HSS 2152)
Gary
Patterson
Email: gpatterson@ucsd.edu
Office
hour: Tuesdays 10:00-10:50 (AP&M
2442)
Section: Tuesdays 11:00-11:50 (AP&M 4301)
Welcome
to LIGN 121! Have a great Winter quarter!
Goals: The goals of this class are to introduce
generative syntax by applying the scientific method to English language data,
while emphasizing argumentation and clear expository writing. To this end, we will collaboratively develop
a fragment theory of English syntax through class discussions and written
work. Homework assignments and exams are
exercises in good writing and argumentation.
All of this works best if everyone comes to class, participates in
discussions, puts thought and care into the assignments, and makes use of
sections and office hours. It doesn’t
work very well if only a few students participate. The course can be tough and involves a fair
amount of thinking and work (for us as well as you), but it can be very
rewarding.
Attendance: Regular attendance is crucial. There are no textbooks, podcasts, etc. Rather, everything happens in class
discussions and through the homeworks and exams. Students sometimes run into trouble by not
attending – they then don’t have the background to do the written work.
Homework: Homework is very important for
this class. The grading scheme (see
syllabus) allows for the learning curve that is involved – hence, even homework
assignments that fall somewhat short will not bring your grade down, while
those that are better will bring it up.
However, it is crucial that you stay on top of the homework and make an
honest effort to do the best job you can.
Many students who run into trouble do so by not handing in several
homework assignments. See the syllabus
for more details. Homework will be
posted to the website on Fridays and due in class on Wednesdays. Office hours and sections are on Mondays and
Tuesdays to coincide with the homework schedule.
Midterm and Final:
Both the midterm and final are take-home exams; they are similar to the homeworks, but a bit longer. The midterm will be posted a week before it
is due – probably early to mid-February.
The final will be posted on Wednesday, March 13th (week 10)
and will be due by Friday, March 22nd at 12:00 noon.
Lecture notes:
I will post summaries of what we have done in the form of lecture notes
before the two exams.
Outside sources:
Sometimes students feel the need to consult outside sources (e.g.
textbooks) for help on the homework and exams.
These sources will be sufficiently different from what we do in class
that they will only confuse things.
Also, this is not in the spirit of the class and it is usually obvious
when this happens – don’t do it! Instead, come too sections and office
hours to ask questions.
Collaboration: I allow collaboration on the written work,
but it very important that this is limited to discussing ideas and not working
out detailed solutions. It is also
important that the written work is done independently. You must also list everyone you collaborated
with on each assignment/exam. If any
work looks too close, I may have to refer the case to the Office of Academic
Integrity.
Computers:
The nature of the material does not lend itself to taking notes on a
computer. Therefore, there is no need to
use one in class. If you are surfing the
web in class, you won’t be participating and won’t do very well.
Bottom line:
This class can be a lot of fun and intellectually rewarding, but it does
require effort and thought. If you work
in the spirit of the class, you probably will do fine, even if you don’t
understand everything. This is not the
type of class that lends itself to mere memorization of facts. The pay off – even if you never use the
material later in life – is sharpened analytical skills, critical
thinking, and writing.
Announcements:
Emails:
We will
do our best to answer emails with questions about homeworks,
etc. To get the most out of this, please
note the following:
(i) If you wait until the last minute, there is a
possibility we won’t get to your email in time.
This is particularly true for emails sent Tuesday night.
(ii)
Feel free to email any of us (John, Gary, Chris). If you email more than one
of us, please send a single email with multiple addressees – that
is, please don’t send separate emails to each.
We will respond with a ‘reply all’ – that way there can be a
conversation, and we can be sure you are not getting different (and maybe
conflicting) responses.
(iii)
We can clarify things and discuss material already presented in class, but we
can’t check your analyses.
Drawing Trees:
Here is
a link to a website that helps you draw nice-looking trees (thanks to Jesse
Weinstein, from last year). If you use
it, please no ‘triangles’ (i.e., make sure to draw every branch).
http://ironcreek.net/phpsyntaxtree/
Handouts:
A handout on verb forms
Notes on the current grammar, as of midterm
week – this includes much of the material discussed so far
Each
week I will post an updated current grammar, which will be in the form of
lecture notes – I am leaving up the notes from the midterm week, as it
has some useful information on the Principle of Modification, constituency,
etc., but bear in mind that the grammar is always changing – please
consult the following link for the most current grammar:
Current Grammar notes (finals week) Updated March 15th – added information
on more lexical entires
Homeworks:
Homework 7 – due Wednesday, March 13th
Final:
Final – due Friday, March 22nd, 12 noon