Patthey English 103 Online Syllabus
English 103 - Critical Thinking, Reading, and Writing
Section 0556 Online
Instructor: Dr. Genevieve Patthey
Office: City College @ Wilshire 263
Phone: 323-953-4000 x 2703 email: profggpc@yahoo.com
Important: This is an online course. We will only have one regular class meeting, an Orientation scheduled for Friday, September 5, from 5:30 to 7 pm in JH 302. To complete this class, students access the English 103 Online Web Course at www.coursecompass.com. To register and enroll for the Online Web Course, students need:
A valid email address.
The CourseCompass course ID—TBA during the Orientation on Friday, September 5
A student access code. The access code and registration information are included in the Student Access Kit that should come with your textbook, Argument Now. Students can also purchase the textbook or access kit online using a credit card.
Prerequisite: Grade of C or better in English 101.
Materials:
Alexander, Jonathan & Barber, Margaret M. (2005) Argument Now: A Brief Rhetoric. Pearson/Longman.
Mercury Editions (2005) Critical Thinking Reader. Los Angeles City College. Pearson Custom Publishing (The Mercury Reader).
Rationale Argument Mapping Software. $15 fee. Contact Professor Patthey to download and register the software. Related instructional materials will appear in the Web Course’s weekly sessions.
Recommended: A good dictionary, such as American Heritage or Webster’s New World, and a good Handbook, such as D. Hacker’s A Writer’s Reference.
Course Requirements
Weekly reading assignments including on-line lectures emphasizing the most important points in the readings and illustrating the techniques for argumentative analysis included in the week's lessons.
Learning to use Rationale argument mapping software for argumentative analysis and to prepare for your writing assignments.
Quizzes throughout the term to assess your mastery of the course material.
Participation in Critics' Circle discussions. You will be required to make a least two contributions per week to the discussions, including providing peer reviews during the course of the term. Discussion participation cannot be made up. No late posts will be accepted for discussions once a given discussion has been archived.
Completion of Writing Assignments. Formal essays putting into practice three uses of critical thinking strategies being taught in the course: to inquire, to evaluate, and to persuade. Most essays will require a preliminary draft and a final version. To receive feedback on a draft essay, the essay has to be submitted on time. Late essays will not receive comments, only a grade, and will not be accepted more than two weeks after the due date. Tentative due dates for Writing Assignments:
Introductory Essay, September 21
First Summary-Analysis Assignment (Essay 2), October 5
Revised Summary-Analysis Assignment, November 2
Evaluation of Life Boat Ethics Draft (Essay 3), October 19
Revised Evaluation of Life Boat Ethics Essay, November 9
Inquiry Essay Proposal, October 12
Annotated Bibliography for Inquiry Essay, October 26
Inquiry Essay Draft, November 23
Final Inquiry Essay, December 7
Grading and Academic Integrity
Writing assignments will add up to 50% of your final grade, participation in class discussions will add another 20%, and quizzes and Rationale exercises will add the final 30%.
Students must receive a passing grade (after revision) on all essay assignments to pass the course. You may not omit a paper, even if without the paper you would still receive a passing grade.
All writing must be your own work. If you use or copy material from books, the internet, or other students, whether in direct quotation or close paraphrase, always cite your sources.
Powerful internet search engines allow the statistical evaluation of any written document for percentage of material copied from online sources. Be warned: If you plagiarize, you will be caught. Resistance is futile. Papers whose content contains significant material directly copied from online sources without proper citations will receive no credit for the assignment. A student who submits plagiarized material twice will be reported to the academic dean.
To receive feedback on draft essays, they must be turned in on time. Late essays will receive only a grade, without any comments. No assignments will be accepted more than two weeks past due date without an extremely good reason.
Academic Accommodations: Students with a verified disability who may need reasonable accommodation(s) for this class are encouraged to notify the instructor and contact the Office of Special Services (CH 109, 323-953-4000 x 2270) as soon as possible. All information will remain confidential.
Course Outcome:
By the end of this course, you should be able to demonstrate your ability to examine an issue critically through well-organized and clearly written analysis. To develop critical analysis, you should be able to:
Engage in the process of mature reasoning and translate your reflections into soundly written argumentative essays.
Read different texts and synthesize ideas from a variety of sources and backgrounds
Examine and evaluate the reasoning, logic, and biases of different argumentative texts
Conduct research to gather information on particular issues or questions from several sources and perspectives
Craft planning outlines for your writings that help you identify and organize ideas and supporting material
Integrate material from a variety of sources into your own writing
Use basic citation conventions (APA or MLA)
Provide constructive feedback and peer review in asynchronous discussion groups
Edit your own work
Prepare documents for online publication in blogs and E-Zines
Last day to add a class September 13
Last day to drop a class with a full refund September 15
Last day to drop a class without a “W” on record September 28
Last day to drop a class with a “W” on record November 23
Final Exam December 15
Course Overview:
This is a course on critical thinking and writing with two primary threads running through each session’s lessons and exercises:
Developing tools for critical thinking and writing: learning techniques for evaluating the acceptability of arguments and for developing acceptable ones;
Developing the skills for effective critical written communication and college inquiry.
Section 1: Weeks 1 – 3
In the first section of the course we will pursue three tasks:
consider language use in modern society in general and look at George Orwell’s dystopian vision of the totalitarian control of language and thought;
develop a concept of critical thinking and writing, dialectic and rhetoric;
learn to use Rationale argument mapping software for critical reading and analysis.
Section 2: Weeks 4 – 7
The second section of the course will be devoted to the study of:
the structure of arguments with a specific focus on the traditional concept of the Enthymeme and the Toulmin model of argumentation;
“The Tragedy of the Commons” controversy; a concrete case study for applying Toulmin analysis using argument mapping software;
the use of Rationale software for mapping and evaluating complex arguments.
Section 3: Weeks 8 – 10:
The fourth section of the course will use the history of the struggle against racial segregation in the United States as a context for examining the structure of arguments that appeal to:
norms and values (ethos): juristic/normative forms of argument as illustrated in the opinions of the U.S. Supreme Court in the two key civil rights rulings—Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) and Brown v. Board of Education (1954);
emotions and identity (pathos): a focus on Martin Luther King’s speeches and writings.
Section 4: Weeks 11 – 15:
The third section of the course will be dedicated to the preparation of an Inquiry Essay on an approved topic. The inquiry essay will involve peer review and one or more revisions. Supporting the development of the inquiry essay, lessons and exercises will focus on:
monological and dialogical approaches to thesis development;
identifying the voices and audiences that correspond to the texts we encounter in the course of researching an issue;
Criteria for evaluating testimony;
The evaluation and use of statistical material and statistical graphics;
Inquiry as moderating conflicting positions.
A more detailed Schedule of Readings and Assignments is available online.