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......................Skyline
College
English
165:
Critical
Thinking and Advanced Composition -- Spring
2000
Course Meetings:
MWF 11:10am-12pm
Mon & Fri in Rm 7306 & in Lab Weds-blg
2
Schedule #34218 - Engl 165AF, Units
3.0
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"In order to
be a great writer, a person must have a built-in,
shock-proof crap detector"
--
Ernest Hemingway
"An abstract idea is always bad. Your sentences should be
full of stones, metals, chairs,
tables, animals, men, and women." -- Alain de Lille
Course
Prerequisites: Completion of English
100 or 105 with a letter grade of "C" or better.
Course
Objectives: By the end of the
semester, you will have developed a strong understanding of
what it means to think and write critically. Through the
writing and reading you do in this course, you will be able
to analyze; criticize; advocate and reason both inductively
and deductively; distinguish fact from judgment; understand
the relationship of language to logic; identify the
assumptions upon which particular conclusions depend; and
recognize common errors of logic in language and
thought.
Required
Materials:
"The only good
thing you can say about banning certain books is it gets
kids to read them" - Dennis Miller, The
Rants. Here are the books you'll be reading this
semester:
Ways of Reading, 5th edition, by Bartholomae &
Petrosky
Writing Logically, Thinking Critically, 2nd edition,
by Cooper and Patton
Maus I and Maus II by Art Spiegelman
$5 Computer Usage card - can be purchased at Skyline's
bookstore
Course
Policies:
(1) Attendance-- Your active
participation is necessary for you and your classmates to
realize the objectives of this course. Therefore your
attendance is crucial. A maximum of 5 (five) absences is
permitted; each absence after the fifth will significantly
lower your grade.
(2) Late Assignments-- All due dates are given well in
advance; therefore I feel that it is unfair to the students
who complete their work on time to accept the work from
those who do not. However, because "life happens," each
student has two "late tickets" during the semester; twice
students may choose to turn an assignment in the following
class period after the due date. Late assignments beyond
this will not be accepted.
(3) Plagiarism-- Paraphrasing or directly copying any text
and using it as your own without proper attribution, whether
you've done it intentionally or not, is plagiarism and is
unacceptable and can result in failure. During the course of
this semester, we will carefully look at how to use outside
sources and at the proper ways in which to document those
sources.
(4) Class participation--- Remember that participation
counts--both for your grade and in your life. It is
essential that you become consciously involved in class by
participating in discussions and contributing thoughtful
comments, questions, and answers.
"I'll find my
father through words. I'll bring him back to life with
words.
I will build a cathedral of words. I'll create a country
with my words.
In my words I'll find the universe and I'll understand the
eternal present though
my words. In my words, I will find, I will end, I will
become the words
themselves, become words, words, words, I will incarnate
words, words, words"
-- Arturo Arias After the Bombs
Papers:
Six major papers will be written for this class. The
requirements are as follows:
(1) Due Dates--Paper #1 (2-4 pages, 500-1000
words).........Draft
due 2/2, Revised 2/9
..........................
Paper #2 (3-5 pages, 750-1250
words).........Draft
due 2/28, Revised 3/6
..........................
Paper #3: Midterm essay exam 3/17
Collaborative Research Paper #4: (4-6 pages, 1000-1500
words)....Draft
due 4/26, Revised 5/3
..........................
Paper #5 (4-6 pages, 1000-1500
words).......Draft
due 5/15, Revised 5/22
..........................
Paper #6: Final essay exam-2 ½ hours on
Monday, May 22nd 11:10am-1:40pm
"Research is
formalized curiosity. It is poking and prying with a
purpose."
-- Zora Neale Hurston
(2) Revision-- Louis Brandels said, "There is no such
thing as good writing, only good rewriting." Because
revising or "re-seeing" a piece of writing is such an
important aspect of the writing process, each of the papers
has two due dates. Each student will receive feedback and
suggestions on each of his/her papers through class workshop
groups; then each student will be asked to revise each paper
based on peer feedback. Please note: if the first due date
for a paper is missed, the paper cannot be turned in at
all.
(3) Workshopping-- This class will serve as a sort of a
writing community in which each student can draw, as well as
contribute, valuable ideas, insight, and advise on writing
and presenting arguments. Each paper will be read,
discussed, and commented upon by student workshop groups of
three. Workshop days are very important, and therefore a
missed workshop day will count as two (2) absences and a
late paper will not be accepted. Students without a
completed paper (meeting page and format requirements) will
not be allowed to participate in the workshop. Below are the
workshop dates--students must bring a copy of their paper
for themselves as well as for the other members of their
group:
Workshops for Paper #1: Weds
2/2 & Fri 2/4
Workshops for Paper #2: Mon 2/28 & Weds 3/1
Workshops for Paper #4: Weds 4/26 & Fri 4/28
Workshops for Paper #5: Mon 5/15 & Weds 5/17
(4) Format-Papers must meet the required
minimum length or run the risk of not being accepted. All
papers must be typed, double-spaced, have 1" margins, and
have a font of 12.
"A great many
people think that they are thinking when they are only
rearranging their prejudices." -- William
James
Course
Grade:................................................
Record
Your Own Grades:
Paper 1
..............................10%...........................................Score
for Paper 1 ______ x .10 = ______
Paper 2
..............................10%
..........................................Score
for Paper 2 ______ x .10 = ______
Paper 3-In
Class.................10%
..........................................Score for
Paper 3 ______ x .10 = ______
Paper 4 .............................
15%
..........................................Score for
Paper 4 ______ x .15 = ______
Paper 5 .............................
15%
..........................................Score for
Paper 5 ______ x .15 = ______
Paper 6--Final Exam 5/22..
10%
..........................................Score for
Paper 5 ______ x .10 = ______
Quizzes
..............................10%
.......................................Average Quiz
Score ______ x .10 = ______
Homework.........................10%
.......................................Average HM
Score ______ x .10 = ______
* Participation ...................
10%
.........
.........................................Participation
______ x .10 = ______
.................................................................................................*TOTAL:
(convert total to %) ________
* Participation includes being prepared each day,
meeting
with me at least once during the course of the
semester, ...............*
Deduct 1% for each absence over allowed 4.
adding to daily discussion, and giving your
classmates
......................Scoring as follows: 100-90=A,
89-80=B
thoughtful responses to their writing in
workshops.
...............................79-70=C,
69-60=D, 59-0=F
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