Critical Thinking @ the College of Alameda with Professor Wanda Sabir

ENG 5/ENG 211 Course codes: 20134, Tuesday/Thursday 11:00 AM to 12:15 PM

Class Meetings: January 22-May 16
Location: Room A-202

Holidays: 1/21; 2/15; 2/18; 3/29; 5/17; 3/25-31
Final Exam Week: May 18-24 (Portfolios due via e-mail by May 24).
Drop dates: Feb. 3 (w/refund); April 27 (w/W).

Class blog: http://sabirscoaenglish5.blogspot.com/

Syllabus for English 5: Critical Thinking in Reading and Writing

English 5, 3 semester units, about 6000 written words, 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. Students 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) – 2-4 page essays which are 1. Analytical, 2. Argumentative and 3. Comparative evaluative essays on pertinent topics around the themes explored in the texts. 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. Three essays will utilize one of the text books: James Baldwin's The Fire Next Time; Tim Wise's Dear White America: Letter to a New Minority; Gretchen Rubin's The Happiness Project. Required in these essays will be inclusion of at least 1-2 scholarly articles on the topic and a works cited/bibliography page(s) which is not counted as part of the 2-4 pages. The fourth essay will be student choice based on a book by or about a happy person. The query is: Is one's happiness bound to community? That is, is one happiest when serving others, or can one's happiness be a purely selfish pursuit? The topic can be an argument or an analysis of an argument. All arguments will be presented orally in small groups and in written form.

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 or following class meeting.

Readings
We will read a book every 3-4 weeks, beginning with Baldwin, then Wise, ending with Rubin. Students will select a book of their own they would like to cull an argument from.

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 on-line to two other posts. Be respectful in your comments. Even though we are only meeting two hours and a half a week, students will have three hours of homework weekly, maybe more if one is a slow reader. We will try not to deviate from the schedule, as we have three 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 or taken from the field of commercial art or politics. We will do this in class. Buy the books and start reading. The graphic novel is first.

The Plan
We will use the textbook: Writing Logically Thinking Critically, Sixth-Seventh Editions, by Sheila Cooper and Rosemary Patton (6th or 7th editions). 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 1-3: Chapters 1-2
Week 3-5: Chapters 2-3
Week 4-5: Chapters 3-4
Week 5-6: Chapters 4-5-6
Week 6: Chapter 6-7
Week 6-7: Chapter 7-8
Week 8/9: Review
Week 9/10: Review
(This is ambitious.)

Grading
The essays 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.) The midterm will probably be one of the essays connected to a book. 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 open M-F, 9-5 (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 or 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 a little over two hours; however, the hope is that when you leave the course, you will be a stronger writer than when you arrived, have a better grasp of what is meant by rhetoric or the art of persuasion.

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 semester in meeting your goal.

Office Hours

I’d like to wish everyone much success. I am available for consultation on Wednesdays, 3:00-3:30 p.m. and on 6-6:30 p.m. I am also available by appointment Thursdays 2-4 p.m.  My office, D-219 is located in the D-216 suite. My campus number is (510) 748-2286. Leave messages on my cell number which I gave students week 1-2. Let me know the day before, if possible, when you’d like to meet with me. I am more of a phone person. Texts are fine. My email address again is: coasabirenglish5@gmail.com

Take time to exchange email and phone numbers with classmates (2), so if you have a concern, it can be addressed more expeditiously. 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.

I’d advise students to exchange phone numbers with classmates (3), 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 lose 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


Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs)

Apply tools of understand inferences to community, workplace and family situations.

Evaluate materials/data in terms of accuracy as well as relevance to home and workplace situations.

Identify logical fallacies in communication.

Conduct research identifying relevant and accurate materials from a variety of sources, including databases, professional publications, and other applicable materials.

Identify personal bias and other filters in order to evaluate community, family and professional materials objectively. 


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.

Jot down briefly what your goals are this semester. List them in order of importance.
1.



2.



3.



4.



5.


First Assignment: Write a letter of introduction to me due by Thursday, Feb. 7, 2013. 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.

Email your letter to me: coasabirenglish5@gmail.com. Don't forget to note the assignment in the subject line.

Second Assignments: Write a response to the syllabus and post it in the comment section on the blog. Be specific in your response. Post by February 7, 2013

Something about me.
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 deadlines 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 90 minutes a week over 18 weeks. Let's commit to making it fruitful.


Textbooks

We will travel through our five textbooks in the order mentioned. All the books are fast reads, so do not get behind and decide soon what book you'd like to read by or about a happy person (smile).

Cooper, Sheila and Rosemary Patton. Writing Logically, Thinking Critically. Sixth Edition-Seventh. New
York: Longman, 2010; 2012. Print.

Baldwin, James. The Fire Next Time. New York: Vintage International, 1993. Print.

Rubin, Gretchen. The Happiness Project. New York: Harper, 2009. Print.

Wise, Tim. Dear White America: Letter to a New Minority. San Francisco: City Lights Press, 2012. Print.

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

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.

The assignments list will follow tomorrow. Since students do not have the textbook yet, I have to adjust the assignment dates.

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