English 1B: Advanced Composition and Critical Thinking Section Spring 2018 Instructor: Class Meeting Times and Location: FNLC 122 Final Exam: Thursday May 17, 11:30-2:00 Course Catalog Description: Welcome to English 1B! You have reached the highest-level composition course at Chaffey College, so I am sure that you are ready for the challenges ahead. This semester, you will practice the skills of analysis, evaluation, research, and persuasion in order to become an advanced academic writer, not just a student in an English class. This course will also prepare you for research-based writing in your other classes as well as provide critical thinking skills for analyzing the world around you. The general course description states, “Using primarily non-fiction reading models, students emulate and incorporate various rhetorical strategies in the development of written analysis and researched argumentation. Focus on logical analysis (e.g., inductive and deductive reasoning) and effective reasoning, establishing credibility, and emotional appeals to develop persuasive arguments. Course is writing intensive with a minimum production requirement of 6,000 words” (source: Chaffey College catalog). This particular section will mostly focus on the ways that groups (the government and corporations, for example) shape information in order to persuade and manipulate the masses. You will read and analyze a variety of texts, including the novel The Penultimate Truth by Philip K. Dick. You will not only analyze arguments but also make your own arguments in order to become an expert critical thinker, writer, and debater.
2 T Jan. 16 Read Rebecca Jones’ “Finding the Good Argument; or, Why Bother With Logic?” (WS) Quiz on Essay Intro to Essay #1 TH Jan. 18 Read Debra Dickerson’s “Who Shot Johnny” (Wordpress) Quiz on Essay T Jan. 23 Read Michelle D. Trim and Megan Lynn Isaac’s “Reinventing Invention: Discovery and Investment in Writing” (WS) Writing Task 3 TH Jan. 25 Read MLK Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” (Wordpress) Quiz on Essay Essay #1: Outline Due 4 T Jan. 30 Prepare your rough draft! Essay #1: Peer Editing Workshop (3%) TH Feb.1 Read Rebecca Jones’ “Finding the Good Argument; or, Why Bother With Logic?” (WS) Essay #1 due (10%) Quiz on Essay Introduce Great Debate 5 6 T Feb. 6 Read Jay Heinrich’s “How to Teach a Child to Argue Work on Great Debate TH Feb. 8 Great Debate! (5%) T Feb. 13 Read Laura Bolin Carroll’s “Backpacks vs. Briefcases: Steps toward Rhetorical Analysis” (WS) Writing Task Intro Essay #2 TH Feb. 15 Read Steve Siebold’s “Every Teacher in America Should Have a Gun” and Adam Gopnik’s “The Simple Truth about Gun Control” (WP) Quiz on Essays 7 T Feb. 20 Read Stephen J. Dubner and Steven D. Levitt’s “Why Vote?” and David Sedaris’s “Undecided” (WP) Quiz on Essays TH Feb. 22 In-class Essay #2 (10%) 8 T Feb. 27 Watch Noam Chomsky, Manufacturing Consent (YouTube) Quiz on video TH Mar. 1 Intro to Sci-fi Quotation Marks
9 T Mar. 6 Intro to Philip K Dick Read PT, pp.TBA Quiz on Novel TH Mar. 8 Read PT, pp.TBA Quiz on Novel T Mar. 13 Watch a Spring Break movie (i.e. Revenge of the Nerds) No Class – Spring Break! TH Mar. 15 Watch a Spring Break movie (i.e. Spring Breakers) No Class – Spring Break! 10 T Mar. 20 Read PT, pp.TBA Quiz on Novel TH Mar. 22 Read PT, pp.TBA Quiz on Novel Essay #3: Outline Due 11 T Mar. 27 Essay #3.One-on-one Conferences (1%) TH Mar. 29 Essay #3.One-on-one Conferences (1%) 12 T April 3 MLA Citation TH April 5 Essay #3: Peer Editing Workshop (3%) Introduce Student Presentations 13 T April 10 Read LI, Preface & Intro Quiz on book Introducing Essay #4 MLA Assignment Due (3%) TH April 12 Visit from Librarian 14 T April 17 Work on your papers! NO CLASS TH April 19 Read LI, Chapters One and Two (LI, pp.xi-57) Student Presentations (5%) 15 T April 24 Read LI, Chapters Three-Six (LI, pp.58-126) Student Presentations (5%) TH April 26 Read LI, Chapters Seven-Ten (LI, pp.127-188) Student Presentations (5%) Essay #4 Proposal Due (1%) 16 T May 1 Essay #4.One-on-one Conferences (1%) Annotated Bibliography due (3%) TH May 3 Essay #4.One-on-one Conferences (1%) Annotated Bibliography due (3%)