SANTA BARBARA CITY COLLEGE

ASSOCIATE DEGREE CREDIT COURSE OUTLINE

 

 

Department:  English

Subject Area and Course Number:  English 111HR

Course Title:  Critical Thinking and Composition Through Literature, Honors

Discipline:  English

Units:  3

Repeatability:  None

Catalog Course Description:  Study of critical thinking and composition combined with instruction in literature. This class emphasizes understanding and writing about literature using principles of logical analysis, criticism, advocacy of ideas, inductive and deductive reasoning.  Students will examine assumptions upon which conclusions are based and recognize common logical errors of language and thought.  Instruction in methods of research and advanced elements of style and organization.  Through instruction in critical thinking skills and application of logical methodology to the literary works of various genres, students will achieve a disciplined command of reading, thinking and writing.

Description for Schedule of Classes:  Study of critical thinking and composition combined with instruction in literature. Emphasis on application of logical methodology to reading and writing about the literary works of various genres.

Lecture Hours per Week:  3

Laboratory Hours per Week:  None

Plus Hours:             None

Prerequisites:  English 110 or 110HR with a "C" or better

Co-requisite:  None

Skills Advisories:  None

Course Advisories:         None

Limitation on Enrollment:    Acceptance into the Honors Program

 

Course Objectives:  Students who successfully complete English 111 will be able to:

1.               Analyze and evaluate ideas in focused class discussion, using the tools of        critical thinking;

2.               Write compositions that demonstrate their grasp of the relationship of logic to language, using the tools of critical thinking and logical processes such as   inductive and deductive reasoning;

3.               Recognize in readings and their own and othersÕ writings the common logical errors or fallacies of language and thought;

4.               Apply research techniques and MLA system of documentation to produce scholarly research papers.

5.               Apply literary critical theories to analyses of literature

 

Course Content and Scope:  English 111 is the study of the various genres of literature, including poetry, fiction, drama, and essay, combined with instruction in Critical Thinking and the writing of essays  which display the studentsÕ grasp of the relationship of language to logic.  Instruction in Critical Thinking and in Composition will lead to the ability to analyze, criticize, and advocate ideas, to reason inductively and deductively, and to identify the assumptions upon which particular conclusions depend.  Students should achieve the ability to distinguish fact from judgment, and belief from knowledge, to use elementary inductive and deductive processes, and to recognize common logical errors of language and thought.  In addition to intensive emphasis placed upon critical thinking and writing skills, students will be instructed in methods of research and in advanced elements of style and organization.  Application of these critical thinking skills and logical methodology to various literary genres will achieve a disciplined understanding of the material.

 

Course Content and Scope: (cont)

Content in Terms of Specific Body of Knowledge:

Students will use the following Critical Thinking strategies:

A.        Distinguishing between fact and inference

B.        Developing logical inferences

C.       Avoiding logical fallacies

D.       Recognizing denotative and connotative language

E.        Exploring rhetorical uses of elements of literature

 

With these Critical Thinking Strategies, students who successfully complete English 111 will be able to:

A.        Read analytically and evaluate ideas in focused class discussion and in written compositions

1           distinguishing among opinion, judgment, and fact when discussing a text, and describing an appropriate process of verification in establishing whether or not a claim is factual;

2           using and explaining inductive and deductive reasoning processes to draw conclusions about the text;

3           recognizing and avoiding logical fallacies when drawing conclusions about a text;

4           identifying characteristics reflecting cultural diversity and themes that transcend ethnic differences:

5           recognizing and articulating an author's assumptions about readers of her or his work;

6           drawing and justifying inferences about the intention of the author or the effect of the text based on the setting, characterization, point of view, symbol, imagery, structure, sound devices, and other elements of literature;

7           recognizing and articulating the authorÕs attempts to influence the reader through the use of diction, figurative language, connotation, and denotation;

8           identifying and articulating the effect upon the reader of satire, irony, overstatement, understatement, and paradox;

9           identifying and stating the main ideas or unifying themes in works of literature.

 

B          Write compositions, based upon the reading, understanding and critical analysis of   literature, and using all of the elements of the writing process such as pre-writing, revision, peer editing, collaborative learning, and recursive strategies, that demonstrate an ability to:

l            limit the topic appropriately;

2           establish and state clearly a unifying thesis or proposition;

3           select examples, details, and other evidence to support or validate the thesis and other generalizations;

4           use detail, example, and evidence to develop and elaborate on subtopics;

5           organize main parts of the composition, defining a sequence that contributes to clarity and to the purpose of the writing;

6           achieve coherence;

7           employ techniques appropriate to the writing of an academic research paper, including the conventions of documentation

8           apply literary criticism, i.e. Formalist, Structuralist, Psychoanalytic, Feminist, Reader-Response,  to  analyses of literature

C          Use appropriate research techniques to produce an acceptable research paper, including:

l            learning efficient skills of researching literary topics;

2           making a working bibliography;

3           using the critical skills of:

a           annotating

b           paraphrasing

c           summarizing

d           analyzing

e           synthesizing diverse sources

f            quotation

g           documentation

 

Critical Thinking Content in Terms of Specific Body of Knowledge

A          Students will learn Critical Thinking Strategies in order to:

l            distinguish between fact and inference

2           develop logical inferences

3           avoid logical fallacies

4           recognize denotative and connotative language

5           evaluate diction

6           explore rhetorical uses of elements of literature

7           respond to aesthetics and style            

B          Students will learn Critical Writing Strategies in order to:

l            construct sound arguments

2           avoid fallacies

3           supply sufficient support for claims

4           use outside sources

5           refute objections

6           write with grace and style

C          Students will learn Elements of Literary Analysis in order to:

l            Identify and logically consider, in fiction and drama, characterization, plot, conflict, setting, tone, point of view, theme,  word choice; figurative language, symbol, irony, historical/social/ philosophical context;

2           Identify and logically consider, in poetry, word choice, imagery, figurative language, rhythm and meter, structure, symbol, sound devices, irony, historical/social/philosophical context

 

Methods of Instruction:

A          Methods used in achieving course objectives:

All students will participate in the following:

l            lecture;

2           reading as assigned (to include assignment of readings that foster studentsÕ awareness of ethnic and cultural diversity);

3           directed class discussion (e.g., class analysis of a reading selection, examples of student writing, or ideas and approaches to a future writing assignment);

4           writing and rewriting of compositions (the course requires 6000-8000 words of edited composition and research paper writing, excluding journal or other unedited writing and preliminary drafts)          

 

In addition, students may be asked to participate in the following:

l              individual conferences with the instructor;

2             peer editing of papers;

3             class presentation of papers or other oral presentations;

4             computer-assisted instruction           

 

B          Methods used in achieving learner independence and fostering critical thinking skills:

In the course of class exercises, all students are required to:

l            formulate and express judgments (stated as theses in written assignments)  based on information or ideas from reading, class discussion, or research;

2           explain and support judgments or theses with relevant information, distinguishing between what may be regarded as fact and what is judgment or opinion;

3           evaluate and re-evaluate the soundness of judgments (their own and those of others) based on new information or on another point of view   

 

Required Assignments:  7500-8000 words, which include:

l             at least five formal essays of 1000-1500 words;

2           one research paper of at least 6-10 pages;

3           shorter writing assignments as determined by instructor        

 

All formal writing and all required reading are done outside of class, requiring  a minimum of two hours per unit per week on outside assignments     

 

Methods of Evaluation:  Evaluation of studentsÕ achievement of the course objectives will be based on both critical thinking and writing skills, specifically the

1           clarity and effectiveness of their writing and the degree to which it successfully incorporates principles of composition and of logical reasoning taught in the course;

2           clarity of understanding of assigned literature and other readings and the degree to which the students are successful in using logical reasoning principles to reach conclusions about the works considered;

3           quality of writing on compositions and research papers;

4           participation in class presentations and responses         

 

Appropriate Texts and Supplies:

Honors           ¥selection of more sophisticated texts

                             ¥additional book-length works TBA (primarily novels and plays)

A handbook including critical thinking guides; reference material for writing about and researching literature; literary works chosen by the instructor, including works that promote an awareness and discussion of ethnic/cultural pluralism and diversity.  All literary texts will expose the student to a variety of ideas to encourage comparison and critical thinking       

 

Examples of Texts:

Literature Anthologies

The Norton Anthology of Literature

The Riverside Anthology of Literature

Literature  (McGraw Hill)

The Human Experience

Literary Texts:

Garcia Marquez, Gabriel.  Love in the Time of Cholera           

Faulkner, William.  The Sound and the Fury

Dickens, Charles.  Great Expectations

 

Handbook:

Little ,Brown Handbook

 

Literary Analysis and Critical Thinking

Ruggiero, Vincent.  Beyond Feeling:  A Guide to Critical Thinking,

McCormick, Kathleen et al.  Reading Texts:  Reading, Responding, Writing.

Grassi, Rosanna, and Peter de Blois.  Composition and Literature:  A Rhetoric for Critical Writing     

 

 

CO/mej

Rev August 2006

FRC (8/8/06 gb)