Critical Thinking with Georgie Ziff Welcome to English 5 Critical Thinking with Georgie Ziff

About English 5 You will develop your ability to: Analyze Evaluate Understand logic and reasonable arguments Form a critical response to readings and exercises. You will develop the critical methods of inquiry and evaluation written analysis and argument. You will apply these methods of analysis and argument in analytical papers, in class discussions, and assignments.

About Writing… my favorite writing quote: “Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts. This requires not that the writer make all his sentences short, or that he avoid all detail and treat his subjects only in outline, but that every word tell.” William Strunk Jr. Elements of Style

Required Course Materials Writing Logically, Thinking Critically 8th edition – get the correct edition! The book is available at the campus bookstore and here is a link to Amazon.com 

Moodle Online All classwork will be submitted through Moodle and Turnitin.com. This will include weekly assignments about writing topics, discussion forums, and major writing assignments. Work is NOT accepted outside of these websites. Turnitin.com - Final drafts must be submitted to Turnitin.com. The class code/password is listed in the Orientation section In the event of technical difficulties, please contact the Moodle IT folks for assistance; your instructor cannot help.

Grading in the Course Here’s how the numbers add up: Five Essays 60% Weekly Assignments 15% Forum Discussion Board 15% Final Essay Analysis 10%

Essay Writing There will be five multi-draft essays, most of which will be peer reviewed online The final drafts uploaded to Turnitin.com Check the Moodle Calendar for due dates; late essays are NOT accepted and ALL essays must be submitted to pass the class. Considering Audience and Purpose (2) Arguing Both Sides Taking a Stand Composing an Argument Based on a Definition   Analyzing an Extended Argument

Writing Topic Assignments Most weeks you will read an article, watch a video, and view a power point about a writing topic. You will then write THREE paragraphs:  1. Paragraph one summarizes the topic, describing the main points of the article/video/power point. 2. Paragraph two is your response: what you learned; how it could influence your writing. 3. Paragraph three evaluates by comparing and contrasting how the topic is discussed and explained in the different media formats. From a rhetorical perspective, how does audience and purpose affect the creation of the video, for example? Look at the fonts and styles used in the power points. Examine the language of the article. Which media did you find most effective and why? 

Forum Discussion Board There will be different topics of discussion each week. You will post your responses to the Forum by Wednesday midnight, and then respond (with substantive, thoughtful posts) to TWO of your classmates to get full credit of 6 points. Please show respect for your classmates and their ideas. Observe polite netiquette. The Forum CLOSES on Friday, after which late posts do not receive credit.

Textbook Exercises On the Moodle Weekly Schedule you will see that there will be exercises from the chapter in the book. Instructions vary according to what the chapter is about; some have questions to answers; some are thought-provoking riddles; some ask you to consider examples from your own life about logic, etc. Submit your answers through the assignment links in Moodle Assignments are due Friday 5 pm to receive full credit.

The Final Assignment During the last week of class you will write an essay analysis in response to one of the three readings at the end of the textbook. This is worth 10% of your grade and is due 5pm on Friday of the last week. NO late submissions will be accepted. MLA formatting and citation required.

Class Policies Late work policy: late writing topic assignments are accepted for partial credit. 5 points = week it is due; 3 points = week after it’s due; 1 point after that, and then the assignment expires. Discussion Forum posts are NOT accepted late; they are always due Friday 5 pm. Late essays are NOT accepted for any reason, and ALL essays must be submitted to pass the class. NO exceptions. Late work is accepted ONLY up until the end of the next to last week of class: NO late work accepted during the last week.

Working as a Team You are randomly assigned to online groups in Moodle to participate in peer reviews. You will submit drafts of your essays by Wednesday of the assigned week. You will read and provide feedback in response to the assignment for at least TWO classmates’ papers by Friday.

Break the Ice Due Wednesday and Friday Forum: How to Be an Online Student Read the materials about being a successful online student. Post your ideas no later than midnight on Wednesday Respond to TWO classmates by 5pm on Friday to receive full 6 points credit. The Forum CLOSES on Friday; late posts DO NOT receive credit as no one will read them.

To Do Buy textbook-“Writing Logically, Thinking Critically” 8th edition at the bookstore or online Read the Orientation, FAQ’s, and Syllabus Take the Syllabus Quiz