Email: [email protected]
Office: H121P; extension 5673
Office Hours: Monday and Wednesday: 2:35-3:45
Tuesday and Thursday: 12:30-1 and 3:25-4:15
Materials You Need for This Class:
One. Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari
Two. Give People Money by Annie Lowrey
Three. Rules for Writers, Eighth edition, edited by Diana Hacker
Four. Flat, Pocketed Folder for Your Homework Portfolio
Work You Must Do in This Class
One. You will write 5 typed, 1,000-word essays in MLA format. The fifth essay, your capstone essay, will need 2 to 3 sources for your Works Cited. These essays will be uploaded on turnitin. Late essays are accepted for a week after deadline and are marked down a full grade.
Two. Instead of getting quizzed on the readings, you will write 3-paragraph reading-response essays to the readings. Each mini essay should have at least 3 signal phrases citing the text of the assigned reading. You will not be uploading these essays on turnitin.com. Instead, you will bring a typed hard copy to class and discussing it with your team of 3 or 4 students. Classes will typically start with a 20-minute discussion about the reading response while I mark them with a teacher’s stamp. The mini essay will be stamped with either an excellent top-grade mark or a middling mediocre mark. An unacceptable essay won’t be marked. You will keep these essays in a flat, pocketed folder, which I will grade at the end of the semester. You cannot make-up missing mini essays. You should be motivated to show up to every class. Unless you have a doctor’s note, you cannot make-up missing mini essays. You should be motivated to show up to every class. Your portfolio is worth 200 points, 20% of your total grade.
Three. Before the 1,000-word typed essays are due on turnitin, there is a peer edit session. You bring hard copies of your completed typed draft so your team can review your work, and you can review theirs. Like your mini essays, the completed draft gets a stamp, either a top-tier stamp or a middling one.
Grading Based on 1,000 Points and 13,500 Words Written Over the Semester (about 110 words a day).
One. First four 1,000-word essays are 135 points each (540 subtotal).
Two. Final Capstone Essay, also 1,000 words, with 3 sources is 260 points.
Three. Homework Portfolio includes all your mini essays and peer edit drafts (kept in flat pocketed folders) 100 points for parts 1 and 2 for 200 total.
Grading Point Scheme
Total Points: 1,000 (A is 900-100; B is 800-899; C is 700-799; D is 600 to 699)
Essay Assignments
Essay #1 Due 2-27-19
Choice A
Develop an argumentative thesis about Yuval Noah Harari's explanation of the Cognitive Revolution.
Choice B
Support, refute, or complicate Harari’s assertion that the “agricultural revolution was the greatest crime against humanity.”
You need minimum 2 sources for your MLA Works Cited page.
Essay #2 Due 3-26-19
Minimum of 2 sources for your MLA Works Cited page.
Choice A
Watch Netflix documentary Ronnie Coleman: The King. Considered to be the greatest bodybuilder of all time, Coleman is now on crutches, faces a lifetime of excruciating pain, must take opioid pain medication, may have to be consigned to a wheelchair, and by most accounts the abuse he took to become a champion bodybuilder is the reason for his condition. The film celebrates Coleman’s life principle to persist in doing what he loves, but doing what he loves comes with a price: excruciating, life-altering injuries. Is doing what we love worth it? In this context, develop an argumentative thesis that addresses the notion that in order to achieve exceptional success, we are justified to make sacrifices of our body, minds, and souls. Is Coleman’s current condition justified by his success and his heroic drive to do what he loves? Answer this question and be sure to have a counterargument section. You need to cite two sources, the Ronnie Coleman documentary and Bourree Lam’s Atlantic article “Why ‘Do You What You Love’ Is Pernicious Advice.”
Option B
Watch Netflix Black Mirror episode “Nosedive,” and listen to the NPR Hidden Brain episode “Why Social Media Isn’t Always Very Social,” and watch Sherry Turkle’s Ted Talk video, “Connected, But Alone?” Then in the context of those 3 sources develop an argumentative thesis about the way the social media misuse creates psychological dissolution, depression, and thwarted emotional development.
Choice C
Take an episode from Hasan Minhaj’s Netflix news show Patriot Act and develop an argumentative thesis that addresses one of Minhaj’s topics.
Choice D
In Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari, read Chapter 9 “The Arrow of History” and write an essay that applies Yuval’s notion of cultural inconsistencies and contradictions (164) to a contradiction you see in contemporary life.
Choice E
Based on Chapter 9 in Yuval Noah Harari’s Sapiens, develop a thesis that argues that money is in many ways a form of religion.
Choice F
Based on Chapter 16 in Yuval Noah Harari’s Sapiens, support, refute, or complicate Harari’s assertion that the free market is a dangerous cult that results in “Capitalist Hell.”
Choice G
Based on chapters 18 and 19 in Yuval Noah Harari’s Sapiens, develop an argumentative thesis that addresses Harari’s notion of “imagined communities” and the human quest for happiness and meaning.
Choice H
Based on Chapter 20 in Yuval Noah Harari’s Sapiens, develop an argumentative thesis about the viability of the “Frankenstein Prophecy.”
Choice I
Watch Yuval Noah Harari’s Ted Talk video “Why Fascism Is So Tempting” and write an argumentative thesis that addresses his claim.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHHb7R3kx40
Essay #3 Due 4-25-19
In the context of Annie Lowry’s Give People Money, support, refute, or complicate the argument that Universal Basic Income is a necessary implementation for human rights, social order, and permanent unemployment.
For other sources:
Read Oren Cass’ “Why a Universal Basic Income Is a Terrible Idea” and write an essay that supports, defends, or complicates the author’s position that UBI will do more harm than good. For sources, I refer you to Universal Basic Income explained, UBI being used in other countries, UBI explained by Jordan Peterson as a life-purpose problem.
Essay 4 Due 5-14-18
Option A
In the context of Alexandra Sifferlin's "The Weight Loss Trap" and Harriet Brown's "The Weight of the Evidence," develop a thesis that addresses the claim that going on a diet is too futile and harmful and that we should give up on the idea of dieting altogether.
Option B
In the context of the Netflix documentary The Magic Pill, write an argumentative thesis about the alleged benefits of the ketogenic diet.
Option C
Take an issue not yet covered by Hasan Minhaj’s Patriot Act and develop an argumentative essay.
Option D
In the context of David Freedman’s “The War on Stupid People,” support, refute, or complicate Freedman’s contention that we marginalize average people at our own peril, socially, pragmatically, morally, and otherwise.
Option E
Read the online essay "It's been hot before" and write an argumentative essay about the role logical fallacies in the dangerous denial of global warming and global drought. For another source, you can use Netflix Explained, "The World's Water Crisis."
Option F
In the context of Jason Brennan’s “Can epistocracy, or knowledge-based voting, fix democracy?”, support, defend, or complicate the claim that an epistocracy is superior to democracy as we currently know it.
Option G
Read Yuval Noah Harari’s essay “Why Technology Favors Tyranny” and see Ted Talk video “Artificial Intelligence: It Will Kill Us All” and develop an argumentative thesis that addresses the warnings of A.I.
Essay 5 Due 6-6-18
Option A
Read Jelani Cobb’s “Black Like Her” and "I Refuse to Rubberneck Rachel Dolezal’s Train Wreck" by Kitanya Harrison and write an essay that supports, refutes, or complicates the contention that it is morally objectionable for white woman Rachel Dolezal to fabricate an identity to pass as being black. Also consult the parody of Rachel Dolezal in the Atlanta episode “B.A.N.” in which Paper Boi discusses “trans-racial” issues with Montague. You can also consult Netflix documentary The Rachel Divide.
Option B
Take yet another topic we haven’t yet covered from Hasan Minhaj’s Patriot Act and develop an argumentative thesis.
Option C
Read Jessica McCrory Calarco’s essay “‘Free-Range’ Parenting’s Unfair Double Standard” and support or refute her claim. See Washington Post and Reason’s “The Fragile Generation.”
Option D
Read Brendan Foht’s “The Case Against Human Gene Editing” and write an essay that supports, refutes, or complicates the claim that gene editing poses moral and political problems that we cannot handle.
Option E
Read David Brooks’ “How We Are Ruining America” and support, refute, or complicate the contention that Brooks has written a misleading, stupid, deceptive, and grossly wrong-minded essay.
Option F
Read Paul Bloom’s “Against Empathy” and address the claim that Bloom, trying to sell lots of books, is writing a disingenuous argument, relying more on semantics and trickery than substance, to write a sensationalistic, hyped-up thesis.
Option G
Read “The Coddling of the American Mind” by Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt and write an argumentative essay that supports, refutes, or complicates the authors’ claim that a certain type of coddling is destroying young people’s mental health.
Option H
Read Barbara Ehrenreich’s essay “Giving Up on Preventative Care” and support, refute, or complicate her thesis that we should resist the preventive care of America’s medical establishment.
Option I
Based on the following content, develop an argumentative thesis about the role of technology and social media creating a surveillance state. Read Judith Shulevitz’s “Alexa, Should We Trust You?”; Zeynep Tukekci’s “Facebook’s Surveillance Machine”; Siva Vaidhyanthan’s “The Three Major Forces of Surveillance on Facebook”; and video “Safe and Sorry--Terrorism & Mass Surveillance.”
Students with Disabilities:
If you have a documented disability and wish to discuss academic accommodations, please contact me as soon as possible.
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 online 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. Write an essay that is correct in MLA format, paragraph composition, sentence structure, grammar, spelling, and usage.
Essay Requirements (based on 6,000 words):
English 1C SLO-aligned Assignment (Updated for Fall 2016)
The assignment designed using these criteria will be used to assess the course SLOs and should be assigned as a later (or last) essay.
Students will write a 4-5 page essay, not including Works Cited page, which is also required (but does not count towards length requirement. In the essay, the students will do the following:
One. 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. Use at least three sources and not over-rely on one secondary source for most of the information. The students should use multiple sources and synthesize the information found in them.
Three. Address issues of bias, credibility, and relevance in primary and secondary sources.
Four. Demonstrate understanding of analytical methods and structural concepts such as inductive and deductive reasoning, cause and effect, logos, ethos, and pathos, and the recognition of formal and informal fallacies in language and thought.
Five. Use MLA format for the document, in-text citations, and Works Cited page.
Six. Integrate quotations and paraphrases using signal phrases and analysis or commentary.
Seven. Sustain the 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.
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.
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
You cannot turn in a late paper more than a week after the due date.
You Cannot “Ride” the Class: You cannot miss over 10 percent of the classes while not keeping up with the assignments because you are not fulfilling the Student Learning Outcomes. Therefore, you will have to be dropped if you are “riding” the class.
Classroom Decorum: No smart phones can be used in class. If you’re on your smartphone and I see you, you get a warning the first time. Second time, you must leave the class and take an absence
Tardies: Two tardies equals one absence.
Reading and Writing Schedule
Note: Because current events can be fluid and because online essays can without warning become unavailable, the professor can, at his discretion, modify the syllabus to accommodate the aforementioned conditions.
2-12 Introduction, Syllabus, turnitin password
2-14 Homework #1: Read Sapiens up to page 60 and write a 3-paragraph essay that explains how “limited liability companies” and “imagined realities” are part of the Cognitive Revolution. See Harari video “Why Humans Run the World.”
2-19 Homework #2: Read Sapiens, up to page 132 and write a 3-paragraph essay that explains Harari makes the claim that the Agricultural Revolution is history’s “biggest fraud.” Review signal phrases.
2-21 Homework #3: Read Sapiens to page 159 and write a 3-paragraph essay that explains how “imagined orders and hierarchies” resulted in “unfair discrimination.”
2-25 Peer Edit for Essay #1; have copies of your first draft for everyone in your team.
2-27 Essay #1 is due on turnitin. No hard copy required. No homework today. We will look at essay #2 options. If we have time, we will look at essay topic from Hasan Minhaj. We will examine logical fallacies. We will watch Harari’s Ted Talk “Bananas from Heaven.” We will review top 20 grammar errors. Homework #4: Read Sapiens, pages 163-187, and write a 3-paragraph essay that explains the development of money.
3-5 Homework #5: Read Sapiens, pages 305-349, and write a 3-paragraph essay that explains how trust in the future is required for banks to flourish.
3-7 Homework #6: Read Sapiens, pages 350-416, and write a 3-paragraph essay that explains the causes of the collapse of the family and the community.
3-12 Explain the collapse of the family. See Harari video “The Future of Humanity.” Homework: Write a preliminary or tentative thesis.
3-14 Look at students’ thesis statements. Look at 5 types of thesis statements. See Harari’s video “Why Fascism Is So Tempting.”
3-19 Peer Edit for Essay #2
3-21 Essay #2 due on turnitin. Homework #7: Read Give People Money, Chapters 1-3 and write a 3-paragraph essay that explains how the job market will change in ways that make a compelling case for Universal Basic Income. We will go over essay 3 options. Read Oren Cass’ “Why a Universal Basic Income Is a Terrible Idea” and write a 3-paragraph essay that explains the author’s position. You can also consult Nathan Heller's New Yorker essay "Who Really Stands to Win from Universal Basic Income?" See YouTube video explained; Wall Street Journal on YouTube; Yuval Noah Harari argues life without work will result in meaning of life crisis. Other sources:
Case for and against UBI in USA according to Vox
No Strings Attached in LARB, 2018
3-26 Homework #8: Read Give People Money, chapters 4 and 5, and write a 3-paragraph essay that explains how the kludgeocracy makes a compelling case for Universal Basic Income.
3-28 Homework #9: Read Give People Money, chapters 6 and 7, and write a 3-paragraph essay that explains how America’s racial injustice makes a compelling case for Universal Basic Income.
4-2 Homework #10: Read Give People Money, chapters 8 to end of the book, and in a 3-paragraph essay explain the practical, economic, and philosophical problems raised by trying to give everyone a Universal Basic Income.
4-16 Go over chapters 8-end; no homework because next class is peer edit and portfolio, part 1.
4-23 Peer Edit for Essay 3 and Portfolio Grading Part 1
4-25 Essay #3 Due. If we have time, we will see an essay topic from Hasan Minhaj. Read Alexandra Sifferlin's "The Weight Loss Trap" and explain why it is so difficult to lose weight and keep it off. We will also read Harriet Brown's "The Weight of the Evidence." See Netflix Explained on this subject of weight loss. Homework #11: Read David Freedman’s “The War on Stupid People,” and in 3 paragraphs support, refute, or complicate Freedman’s contention that we marginalize average people at our own peril, socially, pragmatically, morally, and otherwise.
4-30 “The War on Stupid People,” and we will read The Conversation essay “It’s been hot before” and see Netflix documentary on global warming creating world-wide drought. Homework #12: Read Jason Brennan’s “Can epistocracy, or knowledge-based voting, fix democracy?” and write a 3-paragraph essay that identifies possible objections to Brennan’s thesis.
5-2 We will examine fallacies in Brennan’s epistocracy argument. To complement Brennan’s argument, we will study Jeffrey Rosen’s Atlantic essay “America Is Living James Madison’s Nightmare.” Homework #13: Read Yuval Noah Harari’s essay “Why Technology Favors Tyranny” and explain in 3 paragraphs how A.I. could compromise human freedom and democracy.
5-7 We will study “Why Technology Favors Tyranny” and complement the essay with video “Artificial Intelligence: It Will Kill Us All.”
5-9 Peer Edit for Essay 4
5-14 Essay #4 Due. If we have time, we will see a Hasan Minhaj essay topic. We will examine the case of Rachel Dolezal. We will read Jelani Cobb’s “Black Like Her” and "I Refuse to Rubberneck Rachel Dolezal’s Train Wreck" by Kitanya Harrison. We will watch the Atlanta episode “B.A.N.” that skewers Dolezal for her masquerade. You can consult the documentary on Netflix The Rachel Divide. Is her masquerade cause for serious academic inquiry or a pathetic exhibition of white privilege from a narcissist? Homework #14: Read “The Case Against Gene Editing” by Brendan Foht and write a 3-paragraph essay that explains how gene editing is a liability to society. If time, we will read Jessica McCrory Calarco’s essay “‘Free-Range’ Parenting’s Unfair Double Standard” and support or refute her claim.
5-16 We will watch video “Genetic Engineering Will Change Everything Forever” in the context of Brendan Foht’s “The Case Against Gene Editing.” We will also look at Netflix Explained episode “Designer DNA.” If we have time, we will look at David Brooks’ “How We Are Ruining America” and explain why so many people attacked Brooks for writing a misleading, stupid, deceptive, and grossly wrong-minded essay. Homework #15: Read Paul Bloom’s “Against Empathy” and write a 3-paragraph essay that explains the author’s position.
5-21 We will study Paul Bloom’s “Against Empathy” and explore the pros and cons of his position. We will look at Bloom’s video “Why Empathy Is Not the Best Way to Care.” Homework #16: Read “The Coddling of the American Mind” by Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt and write a 3-paragraph essay that explains why they believe a certain type of coddling is destroying young people’s mental health.
5-23 We will cover “The Coddling of the American Mind” and see the co-author Jonathan Haidt explain his position on Bill Maher’s Real Time. Homework #17: Read Barbara Ehrenreich’s essay “Why I’m Giving Up Preventative Care” and write a 3-paragraph essay that explains how she defends her position.
5-28 Go over Barbara Ehrenreich’s argument in her essay “Why I’m Giving Up Preventative Care.” Homework #18: Based on the following content, develop an argumentative thesis about the role of technology and social media creating a surveillance state. Read Judith Shulevitz’s “Alexa, Should We Trust You?”; Zeynep Tukekci’s “Facebook’s Surveillance Machine”; Siva Vaidhyanthan’s “The Three Major Forces of Surveillance on Facebook.” You can also consult the video “Safe and Sorry--Terrorism & Mass Surveillance.”
5-30 If we have time, we will cover a Hasan Minhaj essay topic. We will cover Judith Shulevitz’s “Alexa, Should We Trust You?”; Zeynep Tukekci’s “Facebook’s Surveillance Machine”; Siva Vaidhyanthan’s “The Three Major Forces of Surveillance on Facebook”; and video “Safe and Sorry--Terrorism & Mass Surveillance.”
6-4: Peer Edit
6-6 Essay #5 due on turnitin; Portfolio 2 Grade Check in class
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