Critical Thinking Spring 2011 Syllabus

Critical Thinking, College of Alameda
Professor Wanda Sabir

Course codes: 20242/20225, Tuesday/Thursday 11:00 AM to 12:15 PM

Class Meetings: January 25-May 17
Location: Rooms A-202

Drop dates: February 5, Full-Term Credit Classes and Receive a Refund. Note: Short-term and open-entry classes must be dropped within three days of the first class meeting to receive a refund, February 24, Full-Term Credit Classes Without “W” Appearing on Transcript; April 25 (w/W) and no refund.

Holidays: Feb. 18-21; April 21-22, May 19, May 30; Spring Break: April 18-21; Final Exam Week: May 21-27. Last day of semester May 27. Grades due June 3.

Syllabus for English 5/211: Critical Thinking in Reading and Writing

English 5/211, 3 semester units, develops the ability to analyze, criticize, and advocate ideas. Critical thinking looks at the relationship between language and logic, introduces rhetoric or persuasive writing and tools students can use to evaluate information based on facts, perceptions, assumptions, evidence, reasons, inferences, judgments, induction, deduction and conclusions. Vocabulary is introduced so that students have the proper tools to discuss faulty thinking or flaws in the reasoning process and name the more common fallacies.

This level composition assumes competency in prose writing and reading ability so that more attention can be devoted to ideas rather than to grammar and mechanics. Because this is an accelerated course, the student who will most likely succeed in this course passed English 1A with a “B” or better.

We will look at the role of language and semantics in critical thinking, social communications and propaganda. Students will also look at the fundamentals of problem solving, including considering and evaluating alternative solutions and perspectives. We will write a series of four (4) – 3-4 page essays which are 1. analytical, 2. argumentative and 3. comparative evaluative essays on pertinent topics around the theme: privilege. Each of the four essays will use the Classical or Aristotelian, the Rogerian and/or the Toulmin model of argument.

Topics will come from our texts, films, and discussions, current event topics, or historical issues with current relevance. Each essay will utilize one of the text books: White Like Me: Reflections on Race from a Privileged Son by Tim Wise; Black Like Me by John Howard; The Known World by Edward P. Jones; and From the Bottom of the Heap: The Autobiography of Black Panther Robert Hillary King. Required in these essays will be inclusion of at least one scholarly article on the topic and a works cited page which is not counted as part of the 3-4 pages.

While there are no women writers selected for this semester's reading, the female voice is included here and for student essays, certainly students are encouraged to address the women's participation or absence of participation in the discourse on privilege.

Essays
We will start all the essays in class and have peer reviews; however, I expect the first draft to receive a passing grade. If this is not the case, I suggest said student enlist the support and assistance of a competent tutor.

If any paper does not receive a passing grade, said student will have to write an essay wherein he or she discusses in third person how the writer can correct the errors, and revise or rewrite the essay. These essays are due the following day.

Readings
We will read a book every 3-4 weeks, beginning with White Like Me: February 1-15. Essay due with plan for peer review February 17. Final draft due Feb. 22. This will be a definition essay.

The Known World: February 24-March 22. In-class essay writing assignment: March 24.

The Known World debate: Tuesday, March 24. Summary arguments and self-reflective essay on the process due: March 24 (cyber-assignment). Final essay using Classical model due March 28 by 12 noon.

An important question here is: How do we know what we know given the flawed process in coming up with the answer to this question? How do Jones’s characters illustrate this reasoning process? What do you think about the idea of a world view given the events of the novel? How do people think outside their narrow windows; why do several characters prefer the familiar to the challenging and shifting terrain around foregone conclusions? Use the novel to support all answers.

March 29-31 start, continue through April 14: From the Bottom of the Heap. Question: Is predestination or fate a socially prescribed outcome? Compare Wilkerson’s life to Wise’s. Use Toulmin model. Essay due April 26.

April 28-May 13 : Black Like Me. How is this dress rehearsal useful? To whom? How is it not? Take home Rogerian essay, due by Friday, May 20 12 noon.

Finals: Portfolio Due by May 27 12 noon via Internet. We will work on this May 12 and 17 in class. I’d like students to present their essays, at least three of the four. We have to figure out how we are going to work this into the tight schedule.

I like to use films as teaching aides, but given the tight schedule, we will probably only see clips of a few pertinent films. The film assignments will be cyber-assignments started in class. Cyber-assignments are turned in on-line and are about a 250 word fast draft. Each student needs to respond to two other posts. Be respectful in your comments. Even though we are only meeting two hours a week, students will have three hours of homework weekly, maybe more if one is a slow reader. We will not deviate from the schedule, as we have four books plus a textbook to get through, so don’t get behind (smile).

We will probably not complete any in-class essays, as there just isn’t enough time. Most essays will be submitted via Internet. Make sure you include the assignment and your name in the subject line. There will be one group project and presentation on logical fallacies (both inductive and deductive reasoning - one each) inspired by the texts (indicate the passages) or taken from the field of commercial art or politics. We will do this in class. Buy the books and start reading. Wise is first.

The Plan
We will use the textbook: Writing Logically Thinking Critically, Sixth Edition, by Sheila Cooper and Rosemary Patton. It will give students theoretical basis to talk about the argument process. The book has exercises which we will complete in and outside of class meetings. Students are encouraged to develop study groups.

We will run the book chronologically:
Week 1: A Quick Guide to Integrating Research into Your Own Writing 210-214.

Practice pp: 210-214
Week 1-2: Chapters 1-2
Week 2-3: Chapters 2-3
Week 3-4: Chapters 3-4
Week 4-5: Chapters 4-5-6
Week 5-6: Chapter 6-7
Week 6-7: Chapter 7-8
Week 8/9: Review

Grading
The essay based on readings are a fourth of your grade, the daily essays and/or homework are another fourth, your midterm and final are another fourth and your portfolio is the final fourth. (Save all of your work.) You can average the grades to see how to weigh the various components. Participation is included in the daily exercises and homework portion of the grade, so if your attendance is exemplary, yet you say nothing, you lose percentage points.

You will also need to spend at least an hour a week in the Writing Lab (L-234), or as needed, and have a teacher or tutor sign off on your assignments. If you are having trouble with grammar, then work on that. If you trouble is the essay writing process itself, work on that.

Have a tutor of teacher sign off on your essays before you turn them in; if you have a “R,” which means revision necessary for a grade or “NC-” which means “no credit,” you have to go to the lab and revise the essay with a tutor or teacher before you return both the graded original and the revision (with signature) to me. Also due with your revision is an essay about the essay which identifies the errors and how to correct them. Use a grammar/style book such as Diana Hacker’s Rules for Writers. Revise does not mean “rewrite,” it means to “see again.”

This course with limited class time should offer an invigorating discourse or dialogue for those students who love a challenge and approach the writing task eager, prepared and ready for what the course requires: English language fluency in writing and reading; a certain comfort and ease with the language; confidence and skillful application of literary skills associated with academic writing, plus familiarity, if not mastery, of the rhetorical styles used in argumentation, exposition and narration.

We will be evaluating what we know and how we came to know what we know, a field called epistemology or the study of knowledge. Granted, the perspective is western culture which eliminates the values of the majority populations, so-called underdeveloped or undeveloped countries or cultures. Let us not fall into typical superiority traps. Try to maintain a mental elasticity and a willingness to let go of concepts which not only limit your growth as an intelligent being, but put you at a distinct disadvantage as a species.

This is a highly charged and potentially revolutionary process - critical thinking. The process of evaluating all that you swallowed without chewing up to now is possibly even dangerous. This is one of the problems with bigotry; it is easier to go with tradition than toss it, and create a new, more just, alternative protocol.

Audience
This is not the class for the student who is not comfortable with writing essays, whose handle on grammar is shaky or loose, and/or whose reading skills - interpretation, critical analysis, comprehension and vocabulary, are limited. Obviously one cannot become an expert on anything meeting just twice a week for two hours; however, the hope is that when you leave the course, you will be a stronger writer than when you arrived, and understand clearly what you need to do next.

We will be honest with one another. Grades are not necessarily a complete assessment of one’s work; grades do not take into consideration the effort or time spent, only whether or not students can demonstrate mastery of a skill - in this case: essay writing. Grades are an approximation, arbitrary at best, no matter how many safeguards one tries to put in place to avoid such ambiguity. Suffice it to say, your portfolio will illustrate your competence. It will represent your progress, your success or failure this summer session in meeting your goal.

Office Hours
I’d like to wish everyone good luck. I’d like to wish everyone good luck. I am available on Monday and Wednesday morning 10:30-12 noon, Thursday 1-3 PM and by appointment MW after 3 PM. Let me know the day before, if possible, when you’d like to meet with me. Ask me for my cell phone number. I do not mind sharing it with you. My email address again is: coasabirenglish5@gmail.com

I don’t check my e-mail on weekends so I’d advise you to exchange phone numbers with classmates (2), so if you have a concern, it can be addressed more expediently. Again study groups are recommended, especially for those students finding the readings difficult; don’t forget, you can also discuss the readings as a group in the Lab with a teacher or tutor acting as facilitator. Keep a vocabulary log for the semester and an error chart (taken from comments on essay assignments). List the words you need to look up in the dictionary, also list where you first encountered them: page, book and definition, also use the word in a sentence. You will turn this in with your portfolio.

Students are expected to complete their work on time. If you need more time on an assignment, discuss this with me in advance, if possible, to keep full credit. You loose credit each day an assignment is late and certain assignments, such as in-class essays cannot be made up. All assignments prepared outside of class are to be typed, 12-pt. font, double-spaced lines, indentations on paragraphs, 1-inch margins around the written work (see Hacker: The Writing Process; Document Design.)

The class blog is: http://sabirscoaenglish5.blogspot.com

I also don’t check my e-mail on weekends so I’d advise you to exchange phone numbers with classmates (2), so if you have a concern, it can be addressed more expediently. Study groups are also suggested, especially for those students finding the readings difficult; don’t forget, you can also discuss the readings as a group in the Lab with a teacher or tutor acting as facilitator. Keep a vocabulary log for the term per book and for the textbook. Also keep a reading log for each book. List the words you need to look up in the dictionary, also list where you first encountered them: page, book and definition, also use the word in a sentence. You will turn these logs in with your portfolio.

Students are expected to complete their work on time. If any work comes in late after week one, the assignment is marked down one grade each day it’s late. All assignments prepared outside of class are to be typed, 12-pt. font, double-spaced lines, indentations on paragraphs, 1-inch margins around the written work (see Hacker: The Writing Process; Document Design.)

Cheating
Plagiarism is ethically abhorrent, and if any student tries to take credit for work authored by another person the result will be a failed grade on the assignment and possibly a failed grade in the course if this is attempted again. This is a graded course.

Homework
If you do not identify the assignment, I cannot grade it. If you do not return the original assignment you revised, with an analysis essay, I cannot compare what changed. If you accidentally toss out or lose the original assignment, you get a zero on the assignment to be revised. I will not look at revisions without the original attached- no exceptions.

We will have a library orientation: date and time TBA.

First Assignments: Write a response to the syllabus and post it in the comment section. Be specific in your response by January 25.

Second Assignment: Write a letter of introduction to me. Tell me something about yourself: anything you'd like to share. It stays with me: where you were born, who you are responsible for (smile), what languages you speak/write, your strengths, what you bring to the class, what you'd like to leave with and what if anything I need to know to facilitate your success. Include your contact information: email, mailing address, phone number and best time to call. Email it to me: coasabirenglish5@gmail.com. Don't forget to note the assignment in the subject line. This assignment is due January 23 before class.

I don't hold hands. No time for it. I don't pressure people or threaten. If this is the kind of motivation you need, I am not the one. I expect everyone to be an adult, to exercise time management skills and to pace him or herself so that deadline are met and that there is space in the plan for emergencies because nothing as I said is left to last minute rush. None of the material is a fast read--skimming might be possible but this class will not be a cake walk, so plan for it--leave time in your schedule for it. A lot of work will be done outside class. Students will be bringing work to class to share after reading, after writing, so for the class to move, to jump to have energy, students need to stay on top of the work--we will see each other in class just 120 minutes, 130 minutes over 3 months. Let's commit to making it fruitful.

Textbooks

We will travel through our five textbooks concurrently:

Cooper, Sheila and Rosemary Patton. Writing Logically, Thinking Critically. Sixth Edition. New York: Longman, 2010.

Griffin, John Howard. Black Like Me. New York: New American Library, 2003.

Jones, Edward P. The Known World. New York: Amistad, 2004.

King, Robert Hillary. From the Bottom of the Heap: The Autobiography of Black Panther Robert Hillary King. Oakland: PM Press, 2009.

Wise, Tim. White Like Me. New York: Skull Press, 2005.

Hacker, Diana. Rules for Writers. Sixth Edition. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2008.


Students also need a dictionary. I recommend: The American Heritage Dictionary. Fourth Edition.

Along with a dictionary, the prepared student needs pens with blue or black ink, along with a pencil for annotating texts, paper, a stapler or paper clips, a travel drive to save writing, a notebook, three hole punch, a folder for work-in-progress, and a divided binder to keep materials together.

Week 1: Warm-ups and stretches
Writing Logically, Thinking Critically: Introduction, Chapter 1: Thinking and Writing

Day 1: In-class assignment: Aptitude Test; freewrite: Define Critical Thinking; film: Mirrors of Privilege: Making Whiteness Visible, director: Shakti Butler

Homework: Begin reading chapter 1. Complete exercises. You can write in the book. Note questions. Post freewrite on class blog: http://sabirscoaenglish5.blogspot.com

Week 2
Chapter 2: Inference—Critical Thought Assignments: p.17 due Tuesday, January 31.

The writing assignments from the text (some) will be cyber-assignments (turned in or posted on-line at the class blog). Keep a copy for yourself. Exercises: 2J, 3, 4, or 2K. Extra Credit: 2L, all due February 3.

Week 2-3
A Quick Guide to Integrating Research into Your Own Writing 210-214. Practice pp: 210-214

Readings January 31-Feb. 15
White Like Me. February 1-15.

Essay Due Dates: Feb. 17/21
Essay plan and rough draft started Feb. 15 in class. Due for peer review February 1. Final draft due Feb. 21 via Internet. This will be a definition essay.

Review: Rules for Writers (Hacker):
The Writing Process (2)
Document Design (60)
The Basics (530)

Week 4: Establish routine
Chapter 3: The Structure of Argument (53)
In class exercises: 3B (58-59), 3C. Homework Exercise 3E (cyber-assignment). Due Feb. 22 in class. Posted after class.

Chapter 4: Written Argument (77)
Cyber-assignment: Writing Assignment 7 (98-99), Writing Assignment 8 (102). Posted by February 24 after class. Bring assignments to class for review.

Hacker
Argument (358)
Conducting Research (381)
Clarity (79)

Readings
The Known World: February 24-March 22.

Essay Assignment

The Known World debate: Tuesday, March 24. Summary arguments and self-reflective essay on the process due: March 24 (cyber-assignment). Final essay using Classical model due March 29 in class for peer review. Final draft due by March 31 via Internet.

An important question here is: How do we know what we know given the flawed process in coming up with the answer to this question? How do Jones’s characters illustrate this reasoning process? What do you think about the idea of a world view given the events of the novel? How do people think outside their narrow windows; why do several characters prefer the familiar to the challenging and shifting terrain around foregone conclusions? Use the novel to support all answers.

Week 5-6: Fitness testing

Chapter 4 con’t. Review
Chapter 5: The Language of Argument—Definition (104)
Cyber-Assignments: Exercise 5A (110-111), Writing Assignment 10 (124)

Hacker:
Grammar (148)
Punctuation (269)
Mechanics (317)

Readings/Essay Assignment
March 29-31 start, continue through April 14: From the Bottom of the Heap. Question: Is predestination or fate a socially prescribed outcome? Compare Wilkerson’s life to Wise’s. Use Toulmin model. Essay due April 26.


Week 6-7:
Chapter 5 review
Chapter 6: Fallacious Arguments (131)
Cyber-assignments based on in-class assignment (145); Exercise 6B
Test

Readings/Essay Assignment
April 28-May 13 : Black Like Me. How is this dress rehearsal useful? To whom? How is it not? Take home Rogerian essay, due by Friday, May 20 12 noon.


Week 7-8: Learning curves

Chapter 7: Deductive and Inductive Argument (157)
Cyber-assignments Exercises 7G (180) or 7H (181)
Cyber-assignment (Writing Assignment 13 (196)

Week 8-9: Home Stretch
Chapter 8, Review

Review and quiz. We will complete the textbook about midway through the course. This will allow students an opportunity to focus on their writing. I will also hand out other materials to supplement argument models not covered in Writing Logically.

Finals: Portfolio Due Dates
Portfolio Due by May 27, 12 noon via Internet. We will work on this May 12 and 17 in class. I’d like students to present their essays, at least three of the four. We have to figure out how we are going to work this into the tight schedule.


Jot down briefly what your goals are this semester. List them in order of importance.

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This syllabus is subject to change based on instructor assessment of class progress.