McMahon 1C Syllabus Spring 2015

McMahon 1C Syllabus Spring 2015

Office: H121P; extension 5673

Office Hours: M and W: 2:45-3:45 and 5:30-6; T and TH 12:30-1 and 3:30-4:15

Students with Disabilities:

If you have a documented disability and wish to discuss academic accommodations, please contact me as soon as possible.

English 1C SLOs

English 1C Critical Thinking and Composition Students will:

1. Compose an argumentative essay that shows an ability to support a claim using analysis, elements of argumentation, and integration of primary and secondary sources.

2. Identify and assess bias, credibility, and relevance in their own arguments and in the arguments of others, including primary and secondary outside sources.

3. Organize an essay in proper MLA format and will also be technically correct in

paragraph composition, sentence structure, grammar, spelling, and usage.

Essay Requirements:

One. Students will express critical viewpoints and develop original thesis-driven arguments in response to social, political, and philosophical issues and/or to works of literature and literary theory. This argumentative essay will be well organized, demonstrate an ability to support a claim using analysis and elements of argumentation, and integrate primary and secondary sources.

Two. The paper should use at least three sources and not over-rely on one main source for most of the information. Rather, it should use multiple sources and synthesize the information found in them.

Three. This paper will be approximately 5-6 pages in length, not including the Works Cited page, which is also required. The Works Cited page does NOT count toward length requirement.

Four. Within your argument, address issues of bias, credibility, and relevance.

Five. Analyze and employ logical structural methods such as inductive and deductive reasoning, cause and effect, logos, ethos, and pathos, and demonstrate understanding of formal and informal fallacies in language and thought.

Six. You must use MLA format for the document, in-text citations, and Works Cited page.

Seven. You must integrate quotations and paraphrases using signal phrases and analysis or commentary.

Eight. You must sustain your argument, use transitions effectively, and use correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation.

Course Catalog Description:

This course focuses on the development of critical thinking skills. Students will apply these skills to the analysis of written arguments in various forms and genres, both classic and contemporary, and to the writing of effective persuasive essays. Students will learn to evaluate and interpret data, to recognize assumptions, to distinguish facts from opinions, to identify and avoid logical fallacies, to employ deductive and inductive reasoning, and to effectively assert and support argumentative claims.

Course Objectives:

One. Evaluate arguments in terms of bias, credibility, and relevance.

Two. Assess an argument's claims by examining assumptions, by differentiating between facts and inferences, by recognizing errors in logic, by analyzing support, and by identifying both explicit and implied conclusions.

Three. Recognize and assess argumentative claims embedded in literary works, advertisements, political tracts, and presentations in other media.

Four. Express critical viewpoints and develop original arguments in response to social, political, and philosophical issues and/or to works of literature and literary theory.

Five. Demonstrate the ability to evaluate electronic sources and databases, to incorporate research from on-line and print media, and to compose unified, coherent, fully supported argumentative essays that advance their claims by integrating primary and secondary sources, and by employing the tools of critical interpretation, evaluation, and analysis.

Student Learning Outcomes:

Upon completion of this course, students will:

One. Compose an argumentative essay that shows an ability to support a claim using analysis, elements of argumentation, and integration of primary and secondary sources.

Two. Identify and assess bias, credibility, and relevance in their own arguments and in the arguments of others, including primary and secondary outside sources.

Three. Organize an essay in proper MLA format and will also be technically correct in paragraph composition, sentence structure, grammar, spelling, and usage.

Policy on Plagiarism

Any attempt to commit fraud, misrepresenting someone else’s writing as your own, including turning in essays from previous semesters, will result in an automatic F grade, zero points, which mathematically, will disqualify you from earning a grade higher than a C for the semester. You will not be allowed to rewrite for a higher grade and because of the breach of trust it will be preferred that you drop the class. I will use turnitin to investigate plagiarism.

Each essay must be submitted to www.turnitin.com where it will be checked for illegal copying/plagiarism.

I cannot give credit for an essay that is not submitted to this site by the deadline.

The process is very simple; if you need help, detailed instructions are available at http://turnitin.com/en_us/training/student-training/student-quickstart-guide

You will need two pieces of information to use the site:

Class ID and Enrollment Password, which I’ll give you first week of class.

Late Essays Are Deducted a Full Letter Grade

English 1C Grammar Policy and Grading

Students in English 1C are expected to write clear, college-level essays with logical paragraph composition and sentence structure as well as correct grammar, spelling, word usage, and punctuation. If you feel you cannot be successful in this class due to struggles with grammar or other elements of essay composition, please see the instructor as early as possible to discuss resources and strategies for your improvement.

Books You Need for This Class:

One. From Critical Thinking to Argument, Fourth Edition, by Sylavan Barnet and Hugo Bedau

Two. Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl

Three. The Geography of Bliss by Eric Weiner

Four. The Culture Code by Clotaire Rapaille

Five. The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander

Essay One: Man's Search for Meaning (all options are 1,000 words)

Choice 1: Support, refute, or complicate the assertion that Frankl Lite is a more compelling orientation than Full Potency Frankl. Use Toulmin or Rogerian model. The essay should be 1,000 words with a Works Cited page of no fewer than three sources.

Choice 2: Develop a thesis that shows how Man's Search for Meaning can be applied to an analysis of the film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind or Silver Linings Playbook in a 4-page essay. Include no fewer than 3 research sources for your Works Cited page. For a comparison essay, you may want to consult these thesis templates.

Choice 3: Support, refute, or complicate the assertion that unless we can sacrifice on the scale described in Peter Singer's essay "What Should a Billionaire Give--What Should You?" we cannot live a life of true meaning as defined by Viktor Frankl. Use the Toulmin essay model.

Choice 4: Support, refute, or complicate the assertion that the lifestyle described in Joseph Epstein's essay "The Perpetual Adolescent" is antithetical to the kind of meaning that Viktor Frankl defines in his book Man's Search for Meaning. Use the Toulmin essay model.

Choice 5: Support, refute, or complicate the assertion that logotherapy is vastly superior than traditional psychotherapy for achieving the kind of meaning Frankl defines in his book Man's Search for Meaning.

Essay Two: The Geography of Bliss

Support, refute, or complicate the notion that The Geography of Bliss evidences a strong connection between morality and happiness. Use Toulmin or Rogerian model. The essay should be 1,000 words with a Works Cited page of no fewer than three sources.

Essay Three: The Culture Code

Option A

In a 1,000-word essay, typed and double-spaced, support, refute, or complicate the assertion that The Culture Code evidences that marketing and advertising are evil agencies preying on anthropology, sociology, human psychology, the unconscious, the reptilian, and neuroscience to manipulate people into becoming helpless consumers. Be sure to use Toulmin model of argumentation and have a Works Cited page with no fewer than three sources.

Option B

In a 1,000 word essay, compare Clotaire Rapaille's vision of an adolescent America with Joseph Epstein's similar vision in his essay "The Perpetual Adolescent." Be sure to follow comparison essay guidelines for structure and transitions.

Essay Four (Final): The New Jim Crow

Support, refute, or complicate Michelle Alexander's thesis that the current justice and prison system are perpetuating the old Jim Crow into a new Jim Crow. Use Toulmin or Rogerian model. Because this is your Final, it is a bit longer than your previous typed papers. While they are four pages (1,000 words), this essay is five pages (closer to 1,200 words). Be sure to have a Works Cited page with no fewer than three sources.

Grading 850 Total Points (6,800-word total)

Four in-class writing exams: 50 each for 200 point total (2,000 words)

Three pop quizzes: 200 words each and 50 points for 150 point total. (600 words)

Three typed 1,000-word essays: 100 each for 300 point total (3,000 words)

One Final 1,200-word essay 200 point total

850 Total

Attendance and Class Participation Deductions of 50 for more than 4 absences or more than 3 tardies; repeated use of smart phone in class or leaving class repeatedly to "take a call." More than 5 absences or more than 4 tardies is a loss of 100 points.

Reading and Writing Schedule for Spring 2015