Jeremy T.
Mumford
Division:
Humanities
Department:
English/
Developmental
Contact Info:
Phone: (209) 384-6178
mumford.j@mccd.edu
Current* and Previously Taught Courses:
English 80
English 81*
English 84
English A*
English 1A
English 41*
English 1B
English 12
Useful Student Links (includes online sites, class PowerPoint presentations, etc.)
Useful Teacher Links (includes online sites, links to journals, teaching websites)
Clubs:
Phi Theta Kappa
Students for Social
Justice
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English 41
College Level Reading
Fall 2005
2 units
Schedule #1317
MW 10-11
V-110
Course Introduction
We are all exposed to a multitude of written and visual ideas every day. It is important to be able to evaluate the merit of these texts. This class will introduce you to reading across academic disciplines such as sociology, history, political science, psychology, and media studies, as well as develop a more thorough understanding of the differences between academic/non-academic texts and primary/secondary sources. As you do so, you will analyze and attempt to understand your own “worldview” and how your worldview influences the ways in which you read and understand texts of all kinds. This class will provide a supplementary understanding of the ideas, approaches, reading skills, and types of research sources used for developing reading and writing skills.
This class emphasizes critical reading and thinking skills appropriate to college reading needs. This course is for students who already have knowledge of word analysis and comprehension techniques but need work in applying critical reading and thinking strategies to college-level material.
Developing Critical Reading
Skills by Deanne Milan Spears, 6th edition.
Intersections: Reading in Sociology compiled by Jeremy Mumford,
ISBN: EO536783721
A college dictionary (optional)
A folder to hold handouts and class work
Printouts and copies of articles, both online and newspaper, as required
Preparedness and
Participation
By preparedness, I mean being in class with all required materials and
work. Every absence will lower your preparedness grade by half a grade
level. Thus, you may miss two classes and get an A in attendance, albeit a
lower A grade than a student who has attended every class. After six
absences, you will be dropped from the class. Thus, excessive absences will
result in failure of the course. Two instances of tardiness equal an
absence. If you are more than twenty-five minutes late, you will be counted
as absent. Answering a cell phone in class will be equivalent to a tardy,
then an absence. TURN THEM OFF!
A portion of the preparedness grade will be based upon your participation in whole class discussions and groups. This grade is given holistically and is based upon my observations of you over the course of the semester. Collaboration and small group work along with discussions will be a primary activity in our class. It is imperative that each person participates.
Class work: Class work will include a
variety of exploratory writings done in class in response to texts we have
read, each other’s writing, and various prompts, which I will assign. Often
times the writing we do in class will be the foundation for longer writing
assignments you will complete outside of class. Save all of the writing
we do in and out of class for the whole semester.
Group work: Group work will consist of small group discussions that lead to whole class discussions in which your participation or lack thereof will be noted. You are expected to participate to the best of your abilities. A successful participant in this class will generate questions, identify problems, infer, elaborate on texts using personal experience, and will make predictions about the overall class meaning.
Journals and Quizzes
There will be a weekly reading journal. Journals should be two, full, handwritten pages. I will collect your journals in the ninth week and at the end of the course. Topics for the journals will be given in the week prior to their being due and will be posted on the class website.
Exams include an in-class or take-home essay in which you will be required to demonstrate perspectives based on the reading you do and the skills you learn. The essay portion will require you to take a clear stance or position on the topic and use adequate details and examples to support your thesis. Essays must be written at a level that corresponds to the English 1A entry level skills. The short answer portion will ask you to recall and restate key concepts from the textbook and apply these concepts to the essays that you read. There will be four exams (given approximately every four weeks) and a comprehensive final.
Your final grade will be based
on the following:
Preparedness and Participation (25%) 25
points
Journals and quizzes (25%) 25 points
Exams (1-4) (50%) 50 points
_____________________________________________
Total points possible (100%) 100 points
The grading scale is as follows:
A: 100-90 of total points possible
B: 89-80
C: 79-70
D: 69-60
F: 59 and below
Plagiarism Policy
Cheating is the actual or attempted practice of fraudulent or deceptive acts for the purpose of improving one's grade or obtaining course credit; such acts also include assisting another student to do so. Typically, such acts occur in relation to examinations. However, it is the intent of this definition that the term 'cheating' not be limited to examination situations only, but that it include any and all actions by a student that are intended to gain an unearned academic advantage by fraudulent or deceptive means. Plagiarism is a specific form of cheating which consists of the misuse of the published and/or unpublished works of others by misrepresenting the material (i.e., their intellectual property) so used as one's own work. Penalties for cheating and plagiarism range from a D or F on a particular assignment, through an F for the course, to expulsion from the college.
Classroom Behavior
The classroom is a special environment in which students and faculty come together to promote learning and growth. It is essential to this learning environment that respect for the rights of others seeking to learn, respect for the professionalism of the instructor, and the general goals of academic freedom are maintained. Differences of viewpoint or concerns should be expressed in terms which are supportive of the learning process, creating an environment in which students and faculty may learn to reason with clarity and compassion, to share of themselves without losing their identities, and to develop and understanding of the community in which they live. Student conduct which disrupts the learning process shall not be tolerated and may lead to disciplinary action and/or removal from class.
Entry Level Skills/Course Outcomes
Upon entering the course, you should be able to:
A. Distinguish main ideas and supporting details in material read in class
B. Recognize factual details
C. Demonstrate ability to recognize inferences
D. Interpret conclusions
E. Acquire vocabulary through contextual analysis of various reading materials
F. Demonstrate basic reading comprehension of material read in class
G. Employ critical reading/thinking skills
H. Examine basic patterns of organization
I. Distinguish between facts and opinion
Expected Outcomes and Course Goals
Upon successful completion of the course, you should be able to:
A. Demonstrate reading comprehension of appropriate college-level texts (such as magazine articles, editorials, newspapers, and longer supplementary non-fiction essays) by:
1. Evaluating author’s ideas and opinions.
2. Paraphrasing ideas within selections.
3. Outlining and mapping reading selections.
4. Determining the author’s purpose and audience
B. Demonstrate reading comprehension appropriate to college-level textbooks by:
1. Identifying main ideas with increased efficiency in college level material
2. Identifying supporting details with increased efficiency in college-level material
3. Recalling significant facts with increased efficiency
4. Distinguishing fact, inference, and opinion with increased efficiency in college-level material
5. Increasing sentence interpretation skills
6. Applying reading principles to content areas of college-level textbooks
C. Demonstrate college-level critical thinking skills by:
1. Recognizing word relationships
2. Applying problem solving strategies
3. Recognizing inductive and deductive reasoning
D. Ability to develop a vocabulary building plan through:
1. Determining vocabulary by context
2. Developing strategies for determining vocabulary in content areas.
Current Schedule
Week 1 Introductions and Course Review
M15 Course and web page review
W17 Introductions; review Five Reading Strategies; assign essays to groups; Journal 1: write journal using five reading strategies; focus on developing connection and analysis strategies.
Groups 1-3: Learning Student Role...
Groups 4-6: Problem of Underqualified Teachers...
Groups 7-8: Why Don't College Students Participate...
Week 2 Section 1: The Process of Education
M22 Discuss reading process; review journals
Journal 2: Reflect on your own education and/or beliefs about education. Refer directly to the articles to help develop your response.W24 Continue Monday's group presentations on reading journal #1; begin journal #2 due Wednesday
Week 3
M29 Class cancelled
W31 Discuss journals; whole class discussion
Journal 3: Using two of the essays, identify and discuss what you think the main idea/thesis
is. What major details help you to know this? Where is the argument weakest in your opinion?
Strongest? Why does this main idea matter?
Week 4 Chapter 1: Reading for Main Ideas and Author's Purpose
M5 Labor Day
W7 Group work on chapter one; present to class
Journal 4: State the main idea and reflect on the types of examples the author uses for development.
Week 5
M12 Review
W14 Exam 1
Week 6 Section 2: Culture and Communities: Who Are We?
M19 Read two essays from the section Culture and Community: Who Are We? in Intersections.
Journal 5: Use the five reading strategies to respond to one of the essays.W21 Quiz. Discuss journals.
Week 7
M26 Discuss essays from Intersections, Section 2: Culture and Communities: Who Are We
Journal 6: Respond to the argument in the essay you worked on in groups. Do you agree? Disagree? Why or
why not?
W28 Continue discussing essays from Intersections, section 2.
Week 8
Developing Critical Reading Skills: Chapters 3, 4 and 5: Paragraph
Development and
Organization
M3 Discuss textbook chapters in groups
Journal 7: Choose one of the essays and discuss its organization in detail. Where does the writer start? What comes next? What is last? How does the organization attend to an audience's needs?W5 Review organization; identify the organization of two of the essays read.
Week 9 Exam #2
M10 Review
W12 Begin in class
Week 10 Section #3: Cultural Conflicts: Class and Poverty
M17 Introduction to systems of class:
Class Matters: A Special Section featured in the New York Times
Social Class and Stratification Overview
Read "Lies My Teacher Told Me"
Journal 8: Respond to the essay, elaborating on your understanding and relationship to the concept of "class" using personal examples or examples from the media.
W19 Outline and discuss ""Lies My Teacher Told Me."
Week 11
Chapter
6 and 7: Language and Its Effects on the Reader and Tone, Point of View, and
Allusions
M24 Discuss inference and point of view. Read a second essay from section 3.
Journal 9: Identify the main idea, overall organization, and identify the writer's point of view. Do you agree or disagree? Why?W26 Discuss essay in groups and as whole class
Week 12 Exam 3
M31 In class writing
W2 Exam essay due
Journal 10: Discuss the ways in which the media affects our points of view. How does the media shape and influence our decisions? Think of movies, advertisements, television shows and sitcoms, magazines, newspapers, billboards. Use examples to show how some of these mediums have affected you, your decisions on what to buy or not to buy, what to eat, and/or clothes to wear. Do you think this influence is neutral, positive, or negative? Why?
Week 13 Section #4: Reading for Research: Investigating Media's Role in Shaping Culture
M7 Discuss essays from section four.
Journal 11: Identify the main idea, overall organization, and point of view of the writer of one of the essays in Section 4. Discuss whether you agree or disagree with the writer's point of view. Why or why not?W9 Video: Sexual Stereotypes in Media.
Week 14
M14 Class cancelled
W16 Discuss journals and essays from section four.
Week 15 Chapter 8, 9, and 10:
Elements of Critical Reading, Evaluating Arguments, Critical Reading and the
World Wide
Web
M21 Journal 12: Identify and discuss logical fallacies and emotional appeals in your chosen essay.
W23
Week 16 Exam #4
M28 Review Media essay and prompt for final exam
W30 Drafting and planning of essay 4
Week 17
M5 Final review
W7 Final review
Week 18 Final
Wednesday, December 14, 10-12, V-110: Exam due
Instructor's Disclaimer
I reserve the right to make changes and additions to this syllabus as I see fit through the semester. You, the student, are responsible for any and all changes to the syllabus, should they occur.
Updated 10/17/05 by Jeremy Mumford