English 103: Critical thinking

M, W 11:00--12:15
Fall, 2000
Ed O'Connell, instructor
office hrs: 15 min. before/after class or in Writing Centers, JH303

email grief@snorko.org

Welcome to English 103, an advanced writing course dedicated to the development of critical thinking. Our readings, and models for written critical thought, examine and explain various aspects of contemporary life through a variety of modes: political, scientific, historical, sociological, literary, and philosophical. Two essay assignments are designed to follow from course readings in that students will apply analogous methods and techniques. The first assignment is to review one of two books, explaining its relationship to a larger ideological context of students’ choice. In the second writing project, students will explain a program, system, or organization in the fashion of the course’s main text, which examines the Los Angeles garment industry from various perspectives. Details follow, and weekly quizzes will include writing activities building toward the essay projects. Assignments, grade weights, and reading schedule are outlined below and on the calender reverse. Various field trips, guest speakers, and research days incorporated into the schedule announced in class.

course text
Edna Bonacich and Richard Appelbaum. 2000. Behind the label: inequality in
the Los Angeles apparel industry. Berkeley: UC Press. ISBN #0-520-22506-6

choose one for book review
Mike Davis. 2000. Magical urbanism: Latinos reinvent the US big city.
London: Verso. ISBN #1-85984-771-4

Christopher Hitchens. 1999. No one left to lie to: the values of the worst family.
London: Verso. ISBN #1-85984-284-4 paper
(in cloth cover, No one left to lie to: the triangulation of William Jefferson Clinton)

Essay #1: book review (20% of final grade)
•Your essay should be 7 pages, double-spaced, typed, with documentation in the format of your major discipline and is due on October 4, at 11:00 am. Late papers will suffer a one-letter grade penalty. By September 13 a half draft should be ready for consultation with instructor.
•Review either Magical urbanism or No one left to lie to.
•Develop a systematic analytical argument explaining the book’s strengths and weaknesses in a larger ideological context. For examples, see London review of books, New York review of books.
•Research and incorporate 15 supporting citations, including…
•5 other books of noteworthy comparison;
•5 references to the text in review;
•3 sources of student’s original contact or measurement; and
•2 sources from Los Angeles times, LA weekly, or New times LA August 23-September 12, 2000.
Essay #1 will be returned October 16 with advice for argument-strengthening revision if grade is B or below and proofreading comments if B+ or above. You may revise and resubmit essay #1 until December 6, 11:00 am for grade improvement. Feel free to contact the instructor by e-mail for consultation, and be sure to take advantage of the tutoring available in the English/ESL Writing Centers.

Essay #2: program analysis (24% of final grade)
•Your essay should be 11 pages, double-spaced, typed, with documentation in the format of your major discipline and is due December 6, 11:00 am. Late papers will suffer a one-letter grade penalty.By November 8 a half draft should be ready for collection and consultation with instructor.
•Analyze a program, system, or organization in a manner analogous to the method of analyzing the LA garment industry in Behind the label where the point of view from various participants is subsequently taken and explained.
•Develop a systematic analytical argument.
•Research and incorporate 20 supporting citations, including…
•2 professional journal sources from your major;
•3 references to Behind the label;
•7 sources from Los Angeles times, LA weekly, or New times LA, LA October 5-December 5, 2000;
•1 reference to either No one left to lie to or Magical urbanism;
•7 other sources of student’s original contact or measurement.
Essay #2’s half draft will be collected November 8 and returned the following week with advice for argument-strengthening revision. Feel free to contact the instructor by e-mail for consultation, and be sure to take advantage of the tutoring available in the English/ESL Writing Centers.

Weekly quizzes (51% of final grade)
Quizzes will analyze readings and involve short essay style writing activities building toward essay projects. Practice for these quizzes will be available each previous day, and will be similar in nature to the following…
•Analyze the readings’ argumentation, writing styles, and effectiveness.
•Outline the data presented, the argument structure, and the writing style.
•What alternative theses could be argued from data presented? Which styles might complement such viewpoints?
•Develop discussion questions on the texts by analysis, prediction, and association.
•Come to class each day prepared to discuss these ways of analyzing the texts.
•Study interesting vocabulary and grammatical structures.

Final exam (5% of final grade)
•Students will make presentations of their program analysis projects December 11-13
•The final exam will ask students to develop an analytical essay incorporating aspects from the presentations, other classmates’ writing, and each student’s own original essays and research.
•The exam will allow open books and notes but no prepared writing.

Summary of assignments and grade weights
20% Essay #1
24% Essay #2
51% Weekly quizzes
5% Final exam
100% Total

English 103 essay grading scale Fall, 2000

A grades reflect excellent, original essays, clever in concept, meticulous in support, that show all the following:
•clear strong original thesis
•appropriate support
•explicit, systematic, logical argumentation
•grammatically smooth, formal, and academic style
•overall excellent work

B grades reflect work that does not achieve the excellence of A work through some of the following:
•Introduction and conclusion not well aligned
•unoriginal thesis and argumentation
•new information or opinion in conclusion (surprise endings)
•rough handling of quotes
•slim support
•mostly grammatically smooth, formal, and academic in style
•overall good work, but not excellent

C grades reflect work that does not achieve the excellence of A work through some of the following:
•imprecise thesis
•too much summary
•topics separated
•unnecessarily lengthy quotes
•loose or accidental argumentation
•references questionable support
•slight contradictions that do not void thesis
•almost grammatically smooth, formal, and academic in style
•overall average work

D grades reflect work that does not achieve the excellence of A work through some of the following:
•no clear thesis
•far too short
•far too little support
•repetitious argumentation or language
•not addressing assignment
•major contradictions that invalidate thesis
•not grammatically smooth, formal, or academic in style
•overall poor work or average work with severe shortcomings in specific aspects