INTRODUCTION TO CRITICAL THINKING SYLLABUS EXAMPLE

NOTE: This syllabus serves as an example only

Instructor: Malcolm Bryant

READING ASSIGNMENTS:

1. THE NORTON READER, Seventh Edition Reader, Eastman, Blake English et al. W.W. Norton and Co., New York, 1988.
a. Barbara Ehrenreich: Tune In, Drop Out, and Take the Cash
b. Herb Goldberg: In Harness: The Male Condition
c. Betty Rollin: Motherhood: Who Needs It?
d. Maya Angelou: Graduation

MISCELLANEOUS (but no less important ) ESSAYS:

a. How Hip Hop Bandits Destroyed Black Power, The Final Call Newspaper. 2002
b. Abortion foes tests clinics by placing calls as pregnant girl," The Boston Globe. 2002
c. Misplaced suspicions in our 'crooked' looks, The Boston Globe.
d. Group helps fight Haitian abuse, The Boston Globe. 2002.
e. The bias against male victims, Cathy Young. The Boston Globe.
f. America's fear of being sued, George F. Will. The Boston Globe.

*Numerous films and audio-visuals to be named later.

2. OTHER REQUIREMENTS:

One notebook with 3 ½ by 11 inch writing paper.
Writing Folder with two pockets
The Elements of Style, by Strunk and White
American Heritage College Dictionary and College Thesaurus
One floppy disk, one zip disk.
One small composition book for Journal writing.

ATTENDANCE AT ALL CLASSES AND TUTORING SESSIONS IS MANDATORY!

**** This course will require students to read with comprehension, write on a college level, develop listening skills, give oral presentations, critically analyze, participate in indepth discussion and debate about the reading, take useful notes, search library resources, and become computer literate. The class will examine how the use of language enhances and identifies style, focus and ultimate intention. A mouthful, but the very least that a full time college student will encounter during the course of a semester.

**** The weekly critical writing assignments, two pages with one space between every line, will be hand-written, turned in to the teacher, evaluated, typed by the student, reevaluated by the teacher, then collected in the individual portfolios. A sample essay and scoring rubric are included.

**** Before class, the reading assignments should undergo extensive critique for discussion and debate during class. Everyone should participate and engage each other in the discussion and flesh out ideas for understanding of the reading. Students should write down at least 5 thought questions that hopefully will inspire others to deeper thought and discussion about the reading.

**** Students must complete a world wide web-based assignment for eacha of the reading assignments. The idea is to further the understanding of the reading with supplemental information. Students are to provide sources from the web that show multiple perspectives from divergent sources. Observe and analyze the discourse surrounding the weekly reading assignments and be prepared to comment on them.

**** All students must give One ( 1 ) five-minute Oral Presentation on a subject that is relevant to the class and that sheds more extensive light on the reading. Topics must help classmates to gain a deeper understanding of the reading assignments. Presentation list will be available during the first week of class for presentations to begin during the second week of class. A list of instructions and requirements is included in this packet. Sources must be made available to the class.

**** Essay exams are central to the college experience. One essay- format examination will be given during the course of Verbal Skills class, and it will require that students respond to an open-ended question, plan your essay, and complete an exam in a specified period of time. The course will practice the process of taking essay exams as part of the reading, writing and thinking process.

**** Journal writing will be utilized to express thoughts and responses that arise in between and around the discussion and the reading. Prompts will be given at different times during the course of the class and as supplemental assignments during the reading.

In order to pass this class you must:
Attend class and tutorials regularly.
Complete reading, writing, presentation requirements and essay exams to teacher's satisfaction.
Participate in class and group assignments.
One neatly typed or word-processed one-page critical essay on the current reading assignment DUE MONDAY of each week of class.

FINAL PAPER DUE:
One neatly typed or word-processed two-and- one-half-paged paper with at least three sources of supporting evidence from reputable researchers. A cover page is not necessary, however, name class, title of the work and the date turned in should be one line atop the page. Skip one line and begin. The font size should be 12 and sources do not require a separate page. Sources of support should number more than two however, in order to complete the assignment, no more than three sources are required. Citations should be in parenthesis (APA style) with endnotes page, and bibliography or works cited page. This final assignment should exemplify how well you have read and analyzed the literature, and then utilized the class discussion and websites to formulate deeper opinions.

SCHEDULE: Begin each class with a thought for the journal prompt.

TUE JUNE 18 Introduction to class requirements, expectations and format of activities. Ehrenreich. Begin essay one. Journal prompt: What are you thinking now?

WED JUNE 19 Essay one due. ( handwritten) Discuss Ehrenreich. Begin individual web search. Review critical questions. Read, " America's fear of being sued."

THUR. JUNE 20 Complete Ehrenreich. Journal writing. Choose report topics. Computer Lab for typing assignments and further web search. Begin Goldberg.

MON JUNE 24 The Sandwich Paragraph for essay writing . Complete Goldberg. Read, "The bias against male victims"…Begin Rollin. TYPED ESSAY # ONE DUE . Web results.

TUE. JUNE 25 Continue Rollin. Essay two due. Begin presentations? Review critical questions.

WED. JUNE 26 Complete Rollin. Begin How Hip Hop Bandits….

THUR. JUNE 27 Complete Hip Hop. Web search results. Computer Lab. Critical questions?

MON. JULY 1 Continue Presentations. Begin Abortion foes…… ESSAY #TWO DUE.

TUE. JULY 2 Continue Abortion foes…Web search . Begin Misplaced suspicions

WED. JULY 3 Review: THE ESSAY EXAM, Continue Misplaced suspicions.

THUR JULY 4 NO CLASS.

MON. JULY 8 ESSAY EXAM: One Hour. ESSAY # THREE DUE. Web search results on Misplaced suspicions. Begin Group helps fight Haitian abuse…..

TUE. JULY 9 REGISTRATION PRACTICE: …Return and Review Essay Exams. Complete ..helps fight Haitian abuse... Begin Graduation by Maya Angelou. Exercise: Selecting paper topics.

WED. JULY 10 Continue Graduation. Review Critical questions. Presentations? Web search results. FINAL PAPER TOPICS DUE.

THUR. JULY 11 Continue Graduation.

MON. JULY 15 Complete Graduation…Web search results.

TUE JULY 16 Continue Graduation Final Paper Rough Draft due.

WED. JULY 17 Continue Graduation New web search results.

THUR . JULY 18 Complete Graduation. Review of all reading. Questions? Prep for Essay Exam.

MON JULY 22 ESSAY EXAM.

TUE. JULY 23 FINAL PAPERS DUE!

WED. JULY 24 Final class. Final questions.

THU JULY 25 FINAL PAPERS RETURNED. GRADUATION, REALLY!

HAPPY SUMMER