Module 3: Course Map for Jeffrey McMahon’s English 1C Critical Thinking Class
English 1C Critical Thinking Course Information
Instructor: Jeffrey McMahon
Sixteen-Week Semester
Materials You Need for This Class:
One. Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari
Two. Ebook version of The Little Seagull Handbook, Third Edition, purchased on the Norton website: digital.wwnorton.com/littleseagull3
Work You Must Do in This Class
One. You will write 4 typed, 1,000-word essays in MLA format. Each essay will need 3 credible sources for your Works Cited. These essays will be uploaded on turnitin. Late essays are accepted for a week after the deadline and are marked down a full grade.
Two. Instead of getting quizzed on the readings, you will complete the weekly assignments in reading responses and discussions.
Grading Based on 1,000 Points
First 3 Typed Essays: 200 each for 600 points.
Capstone or Final Essay #4 for 250 points
15 Reading Response and Discussion Assignments are 10 points each for 150 points.
Total Points: 1,000
Week 1: Block and Point-by-Point Comparison of Groupthink
Course Level Learning Objective: Find appropriate essay structure for a comparison that frames an argument.
Lesson 1: Learn to integrate summary and quotations for MLA in-text citations in a thematic analysis.
Lesson 2: Learn to develop introductions as a framework and attention-getting device to begin an essay.
Assignment 1: Turn in a 200-word analysis of the text that shows an integration of summary, quoted material, and paraphrased material.
Assessment of Assignment 1: Evaluate student’s ability to properly use signal phrases in an MLA format.
Week 2: Learn how to frame a comparison as an argument.
Course Level Learning Objective: How to create an argumentative claim from a comparison of related readings.
Lesson 1: Explore different types of claims and how to choose claim types for the kind of exposition you are writing.
Lesson 2: Examine credible sources of a “fair actor” with dubious sources of an “agenda troll.”
Assignment 2: Work on an argumentative claim in the context of a comparison essay for Essay #1.
Assessment of Assignment 2: Evaluate the student’s ability to develop an argumentative claim that will drive a fully realized essay.
Week 3: Developing college-level transitions for point-by-point and block paragraphs.
Course Level Objective: Use appropriate transitions and paragraph links suited to various expository modes.
Lesson 1: Learn to go beyond overused paragraph transitions and use the far superior paragraph links.
Lesson 2: Learn to write cohesive, unified paragraphs for Essay #1.
Assignment 3: Complete your introduction, thesis paragraph, and first body paragraph completed with appropriate paragraph links. Your completed Essay #1 is due next week.
Assessment of Assignment 3: Evaluate a student's ability to create the foundation of an essay so that the remaining parts will be mapped out in a cohesive, unified manner.
Week 4: Learning the Three Pillars of Argumentation, Pathos, Logos, and Ethos
Course Level Learning Objective: Study how Pathos, Logos, and Ethos are powerful tools in the art of persuasion.
Lesson 1: Evaluate the credibility and persuasiveness of an argument in the framework of Pathos, Logos, and Ethos.
Lesson 2: Evaluate the stumbling blocks of Pathos, Logos, and Ethos in essay examples.
Essay 1 is due.
Assessment of Essay 1: To write a fully realized comparison essay based on an argumentative claim with at least 3 credible sources.
Assignment 4: Develop an argumentative claim that addresses the assigned essay in terms of Pathos, Logos, and Ethos.
Assessment of Assignment 4: Evaluate the student’s ability to argue for the effectiveness of a claim in the context of Pathos, Logos, and Ethos.
Week 5: Learn the Toulmin Method and Counterarguments
Course Level Learning Objective: Study appropriate college-level argumentative essay structures.
Lesson 1: Learn the Toulmin Method for an argumentative essay.
Lesson 2: Learn templates for counterarguments and rebuttals in the context of writing Essay 2.
Assignment 5: Turn in a tentative Toulmin method outline for Essay #2.
Assessment of Assignment 5: Evaluate the student’s ability to apply a standard critical thinking essay structure to an argumentative essay.
Week 6: Evaluate bias, credibility, and relevance of sources.
Course Level Learning Objective: Learn how to discern credible sources from dubious sources for college-level essays.
Lesson 1: Evaluate credibility of sources in context of Essay #2.
Lesson 2: Learn to write an annotated bibliography for Essay #2.
Assignment 6: Turn in an annotated bibliography with no fewer than 3 sources for Essay #2.
Assignment 6 Assessment: Evaluate the student’s ability to properly integrate and format credible sources for a college-level essay.
Week 7: Examine the differences between informed opinions and conditioned opinions.
Course Level Objective: Examine the difference between facts, informed opinions, and reflexive or conditioned opinions.
Lesson 1: Evaluate an essay in terms of bias and the credibility behind the opinion.
Lesson 2: Evaluate the role of concession to one’s opponents as a way of achieving Ethos.
Assignment 7: Turn in first three paragraphs (introduction, thesis, first supporting paragraph) of Essay #2. Your Essay #2 is due during Week 8.
Assignment 7 Assessment: Evaluate the student’s ability to create the foundation for a Toulmin essay structure.
Week 8: Identify logical fallacies in an argument.
Course Level Learning Objective: Evaluate the role of logical fallacies in undermining effective persuasion.
Lesson 1: Identify logical fallacies.
Lesson 2: Recognize logical fallacies in an argumentative essay.
Essay 2 is due.
Essay 2 Assessment: Evaluate student’s ability to use the Toulmin counterargument method in writing a persuasive essay.
Assignment 8: For an introduction paragraph to Essay #3, identify a conspiracy theory and the logical fallacies that are used to support it.
Assignment 8 Assessment: Evaluate the student’s ability to show the role of logical fallacies in ineffective argumentation.
Week 9: Examine logical fallacies and cultural appropriation
Course Level Learning Objective: Examine how logical fallacies may or may not be used in making a claim.
Lesson 1: Identify fallacies in the framework of a claim about cultural appropriation.
Lesson 2: Look at the either/or fallacy in the context of cultural appropriation.
Assignment 9: Depending on your essay option, write a claim in the context of a conspiracy theory or cultural appropriation.
Assignment 9 Assessment: Evaluate student’s ability to make an argumentative claim for an essay that refutes counterarguments containing logical fallacies.
Week 10: Learn the difference between an absolute and conditioned thesis.
Course Level Objective: Learn how to write a college-level sophisticated thesis that goes beyond an either/or approach but arrives at nuance.
Lesson 1: Study absolute vs. conditioned thesis in context of an argumentative essay.
Lesson 2: Show how nuance and concession elevate a thesis statement in the context of an argumentative essay.
Assignment 10: Revise your Essay #3 claim by using nuance, condition, and concession.
Assignment 10 Assessment: Evaluate student’s ability to improve initial thesis by using nuance, condition, and concession.
Week 11: Analyze the conflict between what you know is intellectually right and what you sometimes feel.
Course Level Learning Objective: Learn to put feelings in check and replace them with critical thinking skills when analyzing a difficult topic.
Lesson 1: Study conflict between emotional response and metacognition in a difficult argumentative topic.
Lesson 2: Examine counterarguments and rebuttals in response to a difficult argumentative topic.
Assignment 11: Develop an introductory paragraph for Essay #3 in which you examine the conflict between your emotions and intellect in a difficult essay topic. Reminder: Essay #3 is due Week 12.
Assignment 11 Assessment: Evaluate the student’s ability to separate emotions from intellect when dealing with a difficult topic.
Week 12: Learn the Refutation Argument Model.
Course Level Learning Objective: Study synthesis, summary, and analysis of a reading in preparation for a persuasive essay that uses the refutation model.
Lesson 1: Study the relationship between cognitive bias and moral bankruptcy.
Lesson 2: Study the topic of misinformation, public menace, and freedom of speech.
Essay 3 is due.
Assessment for Essay 3: Evaluate the student’s ability to develop a persuasive essay based on exposing opponents’ logical fallacies and through the use of a sophisticated thesis statement that relies on nuance, concession, and condition.
Assignment 12: Write an introductory paragraph for Essay #4 that provides a framework for deliberate misinformation and self-serving agendas.
Assignment 12 Assessment: Evaluate the student’s ability to analyze bias in all its forms behind misinformation.
Week 13: Study the link between effective propaganda and the death of critical thinking.
Course Level Learning Objective: Study the role of propaganda and its war on critical thinking.
Lesson 1: Study the art of propaganda and its threat to democracy.
Lesson 2: Study the distinguishing characteristics of a liberal democracy in the context of the assigned essay.
Assignment 13: in the context of one of the assigned essays, develop a claim about the role of propaganda and its relationship to free speech and social media.
Assignment 13 Assessment: Evaluate the student’s ability to make a claim that addresses the corruption of critical thinking through the use of propaganda techniques.
Week 14: Study the relationship between work and personal identity.
Course Level Learning Objective: Examine cultural assumptions and how critical thinking challenges those assumptions.
Lesson 1: Study the cult of work.
Lesson 2: Study arguments for human adaptation to a world of mass unemployment.
Assignment 14: Complete a refutation outline for one of the Essay #4 options.
Assignment 14 Assessment: Evaluate student’s ability to develop a refutation outline for building a strong persuasive argument.
Week 15: Using the Full Arsenal of Persuasive Writing Techniques in This Course
Course Level Objective: Synthesize all of our persuasive writing techniques for the final capstone essay.
Lesson 1: Study the alleged dangers of good intentions and the way they compromise critical thinking.
Lesson 2: Study the pitfalls of using Sturgeon’s Law in an argument.
Week 16: Combining Everything You’ve Learned for Persuasive Essay #4
Lesson 1: Review proper MLA format and sources.
Lesson 2: Test the strength of your claim in light of opposing views.
Essay 4 is due.
Assessment for Essay 4: Evaluate the student’s ability to take a debatable topic and address it with a persuasive essay that both uses a refutation model and uses the cumulation of everything we learned in English 1C.
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