English 101 Critical Thinking and Writing

English 101: Critical Thinking and WritingTTH 9:30am to 10:50 amLaurence E. MusgroveOffice Hours: 11am to noon and by appointmentOffice: N416 Office Telephone: 773 298-3241Office E-mail: musgrove@General Course DescriptionEnglish 101: Critical Thinking and Writing (3)Application of the principles of clear thinking and effective writing to expository and argumentative essays. Must be passed with a grade of C or better.English 101 Learning Objectives1.Understanding the values of reading, writing, and critical thinking in the Universitycommunity Students should recognize the role reading, writing, and thinking play in the University, as well as the significance of such intellectual virtues as humility, courage,honesty, perseverance, hopefulness, consideration, and civility.2.Understanding rhetoric Students should be introduced to rhetoric and understand thedramatic and situational nature of communication. Understood as the art of discovering, evaluating, and communicating knowledge in response to the ideas of others, rhetoricreminds us that writing is the means, not the end of communication, the evidence of awriter’s desire to affect a particular audience through crafted prose for a specific purpose.3.Reading actively, critically, and responsibly Students should learn to analyze the writing ofothers, noting focus, arrangement, logical development, vocabulary, and style. Students should learn the difference between reading information and reading literary art. Students should also learn to acknowledge how their experiences and attitudes limit, enable, anddetermine their responses to texts.4.Understanding writing as a process Students should learn writing as a process of variousproblem-solving tasks, including planning, discovering, drafting, revising, and editing.Students should also learn that this process is situational: different purposes and audiences for writing demand distinct writing processes and presentation formats.5.Writing clearly and effectively Students should learn to see writing as an act ofcommunication rather than solely an act of private expression. They should learn about the issues and responsibilities entailed in composing concise, vivid, and coherent prose for a general readership and specific audiences.6.Thinking critically Students should learn critical thinking as an active, purposeful, andorganized process that we use to make sense of the world. They should learn to evaluate the quality of their ideas as well as the ideas of others.7.Understanding the formal conventions of various essay genres, paragraphs, sentences, andword usage Students should learn the basic textual conventions of academic writing,including the personal essay, expository writing, analysis, and argument, as well asunderstand the need to fulfill readers’ expectations about focus, organization, development, and voice in each. Students should learn the conventional forms and functions of paragraphs.Students should also develop the ability to use various sentence patterns and to edit forcorrectness, variety, and correct usage.8.Developing an awareness of language Students should learn how language is a value-ladentool for discovering and communicating ideas. Students should recognize how a language-user is always a language-chooser who promotes or inhibits (consciously or not) furtherthinking, communication, and action.Required TextsThe Bluest Eye, Toni MorrisonThe Hunger of Memory, Richard RodriguezThe Situe Stories, Frances Khirallah NobleSiddhartha, Herman HesseThe 17 Essential Qualities of a Team Player, John MaxwellMini-Lessons Packet for English 101, Laurence MusgrovePoem of the Day Packet for English 101Required Supplies1 ½ or2 inch three-ring presentation binder with at least 9 section dividers to separate and organize portfolio ingredients. Other supplies should include a three-hole punch, stapler, computer paper, and manila folders for essay submissions.Conferences: Several times during the term, I will cancel class meetings and schedule individual conferences so that we can discuss drafts of your essays. These conferences should last no longer than 20 minutes, and they are required. A missed conference will be equivalent to two absences. I would also encourage you to use the extra time made available by the cancelled Student Athletes and Absences: Student athletes should provide instructor with schedule of classes that will be missed due to University-sanctioned events.Academic Honesty: All work composed for this class must be written exclusively for this class and be your original work. You may of course receive assistance on your writing, but submitting someone else’s work as your own or failing to acknowledge sources appropriately will be grounds for plagiarism. Violations of academic honesty will result in failure. See your Student Handbook for more on Academic Honesty.Essay GradesEssays will be graded according to the essay evaluation criteria attached. Students may revise essays once after receiving the first evaluation on their third drafts. An essay’s final grade will be an average of the last two grades it receives. For example, if an essay received a C on the third draft and an A on the fourth, the final grade for that essay would be a B.Other Effects on Final GradeFive absences will result in failure. If you must miss a class, contact a classmate to get the homework assignment for you or to turn in your work. Late work will not be accepted under any circumstances. All assignments must be submitted to receive a passing grade. No incompletes will be given.Extra Credit OptionsDuring the term, I will provide you with a number of extra credit opportunities related to attending events on and off campus that in some way relate to our course. In addition, students may earn up to 500 extra credit points for sharing with the class a song, article, or poem that relates to any course topic. Students may earn this second type of extra credit no more than four times or a limit of 2000 extra credit points.ACADEMIC SUPPORT SERVICES FOR STUDENTSPersonal Counseling: Counseling and Career Services offers individual counseling for a variety of issues that impact on students’ motivation to remain and succeed in college. If you are having problems keeping up with your school work because of personal issues, these free services may be able to help you.Self-Disclosure of Disability: Services for students with disabilities are coordinated through Learning Assistance Services. Students seeking academic accommodations should contact that office to self-disclose their disability, provide appropriate and current documentation, and request accommodations. The Learning Assistance Services will forward confirmation of disability to faculty with recommended accommodations.Writing Tutors in Learning Assistance Center. The Learning Assistance Center offers tutoring in writing at no cost. Tutors will not write or edit your papers, but they will help you develop the skills you need to plan, draft, and revise your work.Computer Labs: Verify availability of all University computer labs on campus and in the dormitories. Schedules should be posted at each lab.Final Portfolio: Your grade for the course will be based entirely upon the ingredients in your portfolio. You must save all of your graded work throughout the semester and submit it in a manila file folder at the end of the term. These ingredients and their point values are listed below.Tentative Schedule English 101, TTH 9:30 amMusgroveRESUMENameAddressTelephoneEmailPRESENT EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVEIn this section, you should describe your main purpose for attending college.I plan on receiving a college degree in a health-related field so that I can go to medical school I plan on getting an MBA.I am taking a range of courses that will help me eventually choose my major.I am planning on a degree in elementary education.HIGHLIGHTS OF QUALIFICATIONS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTSIn this section, you should list your most significant qualifications, relevant experiences, accomplishments, and strengths that would contribute to your educational objective.During high school, I served as a volunteer at a local hospital.I was captain of our volleyball team.I was student council president in high school.I graduated with academic honors.I was an active member of the speech and drama clubs in high school.Last summer, I traveled to Europe.EMPLOYMENTIn this section, you should list your employment history.EDUCATIONIn this section, you should list the high schools and colleges you’ve previously attended accompanied by the dates of attendance.OTHER GENERAL INTERESTSIn this section, you should list other activities of personal interest.Student NameProfessor MusgroveEnglish 101DateLearning Achievements and Goals1.I feel confident about my writing in the following ways for the reasons given.(a sample response: I feel confident about writing research essays because I had plenty ofpractice during my senior year.)2.I feel confident about my reading ability in the following ways for the reasons given.3.I feel confident about my critical thinking abilities in the following ways for the reasonsgiven.4.I would like to improve my writing ability in the following ways for the reasons given.(a sample response: I would like to learn how to use commas correctly because my lastteacher always marked my papers for commas.)5.I would like to improve my reading ability in the following ways for the reasons given.6.I would like to improve my critical thinking abilities in the following ways for the reasonsgiven.7.I can see how these improvements would relate to my academic work and career plans in thefollowing ways.Student’s Last Name # Student’s NameProfessor MusgroveEnglish 101DateVersion Number or DescriptionStandard Essay FormatFollowing Modern Language Association guidelines, this page demonstrates the standard format for essays and learning journal responses. Left, right, top, and bottom margins are set at one inch, and a header with the writer’s last name and page number is set at one-half inch from the top of every page and right-justified.The standard heading at the top left is left-justified and single-spaced. For the purposes of this course, I’ve added an extra line in the heading so that a writer can more easily keep track of the version of the essay submitted or the description of the learning journal response. After the heading, the title of the essay is centered above the body of the essay. This title does not require quotation marks or underlining, nor does it need to be bold.All of the other text is left-justified, double-spaced, and set in Arial, Times New Roman, or Courier New font no larger than size 12. The first line of each paragraph begins with a one-half inch tab, and there should be no extra spaces between paragraphs.For more information on formatting essays and research projects, see A Guide to MLA Documentation.Guidelines for Learning Journal Reading ResponsesIn this class, your learning journal reading responses are one of the main ways you will use writing to engage, respond to, and learn from the course reading assignments. Each learning journal entry should be at the minimum three short paragraphs, one page, and typed.In these three paragraphs, you should complete the following.1.Briefly summarize the assigned reading. This is not a detailed account of the events orargument presented, but a short overview of the story or essay.2.Describe how you might relate your experience, someone you know, or some previousknowledge to the reading. In some cases, you may be able to easily relate someexperience or another individual or prior knowledge to the reading. In other cases, thismay be more difficult; if this is the case, challenge yourself to make the connection.3.Ask one or two questions about what you’ve read. These questions will reveal yourinterest in the characters, events, topics, and craft of the assigned reading. Thesequestions will also serve to guide our daily class discussions. To write “I don’t have any questions.” would not be an appropriate response.In addition, you should include at least one in-text citation from the reading assignment. This should be a direct quotation and include a parenthetical page reference that corresponds to the cited information. See “Conventions for Quoting and Citing Sources” on page 39 in your mini-lessons packet on how to cite and reference direct quotations correctly.As the term progresses, I will also ask you to incorporate a variety of sentence and phrase strategies in your learning journals.These reading responses are a very important contribution to your learning in this class as well because they will be the main source material for your midterm and final self-evaluation essays. They will also serve as practice for your midterm and final exams.In addition, you may submit up to four alternative responses that in some way creatively represent the main concepts or arguments in the assigned reading(s). In other words, rather than follow the guidelines above, you may submit an original poem, song lyric, PowerPoint slide, or two-dimensional drawing, painting, or collage that represents your response to the assigned reading(s). These alternative responses should also be submitted on regular 8 ½ X 11 paper. These alternative responses should include the passage from the reading with corresponding page number that relates to or inspired in some way your alternative response.Writing Project #1Narrative EssayThe first major essay we will work on together in class will be a narrative essay. The other three will include an expository essay, an analysis essay, and an argumentative essay. These are four of the most common types of essays because telling stories, explaining, analyzing, and persuading are the most common ways we use writing to communicate with others inside school and beyond the classroom walls.Narrative essays are distinct from other forms of writing because they generally focus on a dramatic situation that the writer has personally encountered and wishes to share with someone else for a specific reason. Along the way, the writer must narrate in detail the elements of the story, including the setting (where and when the action took place), the characters (who did what to whom), and the action (what took place). The writer must also provide the reader with sensual detail (sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and other sensations) as well as the emotions, attitudes, and thoughts of the main characters, including the narrator. In other words, the writer is obligated to make the story come to life in as many ways as possible, so that the reader can see and understand what the writer experienced.Thus, for your first assignment, compose at least a three page narrative essay in response to one of the prompts below.1. Purpose: Tell about an event that helped you understand your cultural identity.Audience: A friend, a member of your family, an important person in your cultural community, or readers of the school newspaper. What conclusions would you want your audience to draw? What response would you want them to have to your story?2. Purpose: Tell about an event that helped you learn how to value your parent(s) or a friend. Audience: Your family, your friends, or the readers of the school newspaper.3. Purpose: Tell about an event in the last two or three weeks that caused you to change your preconceptions about college life. What did you believe about college before this time? What do you now believe? What event and people contributed to that change?Audience: Your friends, family, seniors in high school who are planning to come to school, or readers of the school newspaper.Narrative StructureNarrative essays are similar to stories, except that the setting, characters, and events are true. Narrative essays are also similar to stories because they follow the same structure; that is, narrative essays have a chronological structure that1.begins with an introduction of the setting and the main characters,2.moves from one event to the next,3.includes a conflict or climactic moment,4.and then reaches a resolution of the conflict.Traditionally, a narrative plot or story line is represented as follows:Narrative OpeningsOpening 1: Give reader detailed description of the scene where the first event in story takes place.The cool autumn breeze jostled the leaves in the maple high above the dew-covered lawn. As I walked out into the yellow dawn light, a squirrel scampered across the sidewalk and wound himself up the maple. I bent to pick up the daily news, and he chattered his complaints at me. I must have interrupted his morning rounds. Suddenly, I heard the telephone ring from the house. Who could be calling so early?Opening 2: Start in media res with dialogue. Let reader hear significant dialogue from significant encounter in story. Then begin the story.“I just can’t believe this is happening to me,” Dan said. He was obviously upset. His voice sounded hoarse and strained.“What do you want me to do? I could drive over and be there in a couple of hours,” I offered. “Yes, why don’t I drive over. It won’t take me long.”“Well, uh. I don’t know. ”Then there was a long silence at his end of the line. I tried to imagine what he was feeling, but I couldn’t. I hadn’t seen him or talked to him in three years.“Dan?”“Yeah, come on. I think I’ll need your help. How soon can you be here?”“Two hours. I’m on my way. I’ll leave here now.”I guess it wasn’t so odd that he called me. We were the closest friends not that long ago. Opening 3: Start in media res with description of scene. Give reader detailed description of the scene of significant event, briefly hint at event, and then begin the story.The traffic was snarled, and the air thickened with brown blowing dust and gray exhaust. The blinding sun sunk just ahead, and I dropped my visor so that I could focus on the string of red brake lights in front of me. Stop and go, stop and go. Somewhere in the distance, twisted metal, broken glass, and snapped necks stalled this three-lane, rush hour torture. I was late to meet Dan and wondered if he was feeling snarled, twisted, broken, snapped, stalled, and tortured as well.Opening 4: Relate your specific story to a familiar story.Unfortunately, we’re all too familiar with the trouble men have with women and women with men. Boy meets girl. Boy woos girl. Boy gets girl. Boy loses girl. Boy calls best friend. Same with girls. Girl meets boy. Girl woos boy. And so forth. TV sitcoms are filled with such stuff. First attractions, eventual breakups, and best friends consoling one another. Seems likewe would have learned how to get out of this mess by now. But no.Writing Project #2Expository EssayThe second major essay we will work on together in class will be an expository essay. The first was a narrative essay, and the next two will include an analysis essay and an argumentative essay. These are four of the most common types of essays because telling stories, explaining, analyzing, and persuading are the most common ways we use writing to communicate with others inside the University and beyond.Expository essays are distinct from other forms of writing because they generally focus on explaining a concept or process through definition, analysis, classification, orcomparison/contrast. In other words, expository essays are intended to clarify a concept or process through explanation.Thus, for your second assignment, compose a three-page, typed expository essay in response to one of the prompts below.1. Purpose: Think about a process or procedure that you know very well and perform successfully. Perhaps you are an expert in this process and could teach it in detail to someone you know. Explain this process so that someone else could perform it following your instructions.Audience: Someone who would benefit from learning this process.2. Purpose: Taking a humorous approach, explain in a how to successfully fail at something. For example, you might describe the procedures for failing at friendship, or at studying, or at writing a college essay, or at being a dorm roommate, or being a teammate, or being a son or daughter. There may be other “procedures” you wish to explain.Audience: Readers of the school newspaper.3. Purpose: Describe someone you know who has helped you understand how to be successful in some aspect of your life. Who is this person and what have they taught you?Audience: Readers of the school newspaper.4. Purpose: How would you define the characteristics of “a successful person”? In other words, complete this sentence: “I believe a successful person demonstrates the qualities of ……..” Also provide examples that clarify your definition. How do these examples fit the characteristics in your definition?Audience: Readers of the school newspaper.5. Purpose: Contrast two definitions of success. In our culture, many definitions for success compete for our attention. What do you take to be the best definition? Why is this the best? What do you take to be a flawed definition for success? Why is it flawed?Audience: Readers of the school newspaper.Organizational Strategies for Expository EssaysIn expository essays, writers bring clarity and detail to procedures and concepts. They usually begin by introducing a general process or idea. They then proceed paragraph by paragraph by providing specific examples and evidence to help their readers better understand the steps or qualities of these procedures and concepts.Explaining a ProcessIntroductionIdentify the process, your expertise, and why audience would benefit fromlearning this processStep 1Step 2Step 3…………..ConclusionDescribing an Influential PersonIntroductionName the person, describe their relationship to you, and their general influence Description of PersonFirst influential lessonSecond influential lessonThird influential lesson………………………….ConclusionDefining a ConceptIntroductionGeneral claim about concept, and your specific definitionCharacteristic 1Characteristic 2Characteristic 3…………………ConclusionContrasting Two IdeasIntroductionGeneral claim about two ideas and the obvious differencesFirst ideaSecond ideaFirst contrasting feature of two ideasSecond contrasting feature of two ideasThird contrasting feature of two ideas………………………………………….ConclusionWriting Project #3Analysis EssayThe third major essay we will work on together in class will be an analysis essay. The first essay was a narrative essay, the second was an expository essay, and the fourth essay will be an argumentative essay. These are four of the most common types of essays because telling stories, explaining, analyzing, and persuading are the most common ways we use writing to communicate with others inside the University and beyond.Analysis essays are distinct from other forms of writing because they generally focus on explaining the relationships between the whole and its parts. In the case of analysis, the writer of the essay explains how another author uses his or her craft to promote his or her larger purpose, whether it is a story, political speech, editorial, or advertisement. Instead of telling a story (as in a narrative) or explaining a process that the writer already knows (as in an expository essay), the writer in the case of an analysis focuses on examining something new. In other words, instead of focusing on knowledge “inside” the writer, the writer must focus on knowledge “outside” orbe yond the writer’s previous experiences.Thus, for your third assignment, compose a four-page, typed essay in response to one of the two prompts below.1.Purpose: Analyze Herman Hesse’s Siddhartha by providing your reader a brief biographicaldescription of Hesse, summarizing the main action of the novel, detailing some of the main topics of the novel, describing Hesse’s use of literary form, and concluding with a discussion of what kind of reader(s) might best appreciate the novel.Audience: Someone who has not read the novel and would find value in it.2.Purpose: Select and analyze two stories by Frances Khirallah Noble by providing yourreader a brief biographical description of Noble, summarizing the main action of the stories, detailing some of t he main topics of the stories, describing Nobel’s use of literary form, and concluding with a discussion of what kind of reader(s) might best appreciate the stories.Audience: Someone who has not read the stories and would find value in them.In either case, you should provide evidence from the novel or stories to support your analysis. See information on quoting and citing sources in the mini-lesson packet.Recommended Organizational Strategy for Analysis Essay1.Introduction: a creative introduc tion that draws reader’s attention2.Brief biography of author3.Summary of main action4.Main topics5.Literary form6.Conclusion: remarks on what kind of reader(s) might best appreciate novel or storiesWriting Project #4Argumentative or Persuasive EssayThe fourth and final major essay we will work on together in class will be an argumentative or persuasive essay. The first essay was a narrative essay, the second was an expository essay, and the third essay was an analysis essay. These are four of the most common types of essays because telling stories, explaining, analyzing, and persuading are the most common ways we use writing to communicate with others inside the University and beyond.Argumentative or persuasive essays are distinct from other forms of writing because writers generally focus on an issue or problem that they share with their readers and attempt to provide a specific point-of-view or solution. We might also think of this kind of essay as a problem-solving essay.Thus, for your fourth assignment, compose a three-page, typed essay in response to the prompt below.Purpose: Select a specific problem related to your experience at Saint Xavier this year. This problem may have to do with student life, housing, registration, parking, scheduling of classes, course offerings, school activities, sporting events, or student resources like the library or computer labs, but it must be a problem that you know other students have encountered as well. Audience: Compose an editorial for the student newspaper or a letter to the President of the University in which you describe the problem in detail and offer a specific solution. Recommended Organizational Strategy for Persuasive Essay1.Introduction: discussion of values and concerns University already promotes2.Description of problem and who it affects3.Real and possible consequences of problem4.Possible solutions to problem5.Best solution to problem and why it’s best6.Conclusion: discussion of how best solution supports values and concerns UniversityholdsStudent Name__________________________________________________ Essay # ______ Version # ______Evaluation CriteriaAcademic Performance AgreementEnglish 101MusgroveIn order to make the requirements of this class and yo ur responsibilities as a student as clear as possible, I’ve created this document titled “Academic Performance Agreement.” Please read this information carefully because it outlines the kinds of behaviors, study habits, and attitudes necessary for success in this class, as well as in the University writing community at large. If you agree to the terms and conditions set forth below, please sign your name on one of the two copies I’ve provided you. By signing and returning this agreement to me, you commit yourself to the standards of conduct and academic performance listed below. If you do not accept these standards, you should see your advisor about withdrawing from this course.1.I understand that attendance is a requirement of the class and that 5 absences of any sort (excused or unexcused)will result in automatic failure. I also understand that if I miss class that I should contact another student, rather than the professor of the class, to discover what I’ve missed. A missed conference will be equivalent to two absences.2.teaching and learning. I understand that the instructor will shut the door to the classroom when the class starts and that I will not attempt to enter the class after the door has been closed.3.I understand that cell phones must be turned off before entering class. I understand if my cell phone ringsduring class I will be asked to leave the class.4.I understand that this class has substantial reading and writing requirements. These requirements will demandthat I manage my time carefully and schedule at least 6 hours of study time per week or 2 hours of study time for every one hour of scheduled class time.5.I understand that purchasing the course texts and bringing the texts to class to support my discussion of theassigned readings is a requirement of the course.6.I understand that I should be prepared each day to share my learning journal responses to the readingassignments in class. I will share these learning journals responses with other students in the class. I alsounderstand I may not turn these journals in late.7.I understand that I will be required to contribute to class discussions and small group work in class. In otherwords, I will be required to speak in class, share my ideas, and respect the ideas of others.8.I understand that I will be composing learning journal responses, four major essays, and two self-evaluations. Ialso understand that any writing I submit must be my own and written exclusively for this class.9.I understand that my writing assignments should be composed and saved on a word-processor or personalcomputer. I also understand that I should schedule my time and supplies carefully so that I know when I have access to a word-processor or computer and that I have adequate paper and printing supplies.10.I understand that I will benefit from discussing my ideas and writing with my family, friends, and other students.I also understand that I can get help with my ideas and writing in the Learning Center, L109B. However, I alsounderstand that I should never claim someone else’s ideas or writing as my own.11.I understand that when I use the ideas of others in my writing that I must let my readers know whose ideas arewhose and where I found them. I understand that plagiarism (or the failure to acknowledge the ideas of others appropriately) is a form of academic dishonesty and will result in failure.12.I understand that I must adhere to the due dates for all writing assignments because late work will not beaccepted. I also understand that all writing assignments are due at the beginning of the class period.13.I understand that I should think of writing as a complex process of planning, drafting, revising, editing, andpresentation. Consequently, I understand that I should schedule time to complete each of these tasks before submitting my work.14.I understand that I can make an appointment with my instructor to talk about any aspect of the class, includingcourse assignments, my writing, the required reading, or comments and grades on my writing.15.I understand that my learning and engagement with others occurs best when the attitudes of hope, courage,honesty, consideration, humility, persistence, caring, and respect are present.Student Signature _______________________________________Date _________________________STUDENT COPY。