English 124 Advanced Composition: Critical Reasoning & Writing

Course Description

This course is designed to develop critical thinking, reading, and writing skills beyond the level achieved in English 120. Course will focus on the development of logical reasoning and analytical and argumentative writing skills. In other words, be prepared to think critically, and most importantly, to think critically for yourself. Our venture will include practice in academic and professional writing, reading, and critical thinking. It will also include dissecting and evaluating the soundness of arguments in a variety of texts constructed by professional authors and your peers. By the end of the course, there should be no (okay, maybe less) mystery in effective writing. Writers make choices, and it will be our job to understand and identify those choices so that we can become more sophisticated and effective readers and writers. As in the prerequisites, there will be continued attention to decisions about structure, cohesion, and rhetorical conventions. Workshops, small group collaborations, and stimulating class discussions will play a significant role in the course.

Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs)

Analytical Reading Outcomes

1. Articulate the argument and idealogical assumptions in a number of primarily nonfiction texts, explaining the relationship between the argument and the ways writers support/advance their main claims.

2. Analyze and evaluate rhetorical choices made by authors, including appeals to needs and values and the use of logical, emotional, and ethical appeals.

3. Recognize problems in logic and reasoning, especially through understanding of fallacies, induction, deduction, and models such as those of Toulmin and Rogers.

Analytical Writing Outcomes

1. Integrate ideas and information from outside sources (through quotation, paraphrase, and summary) with their own voice, analysis, or position.

2. Acknowledge and evaluate opposing viewpoints and the underlying assumptions, using concession and refutation when appropriate.