BASIC COURSE INFORMATION
Cover Page
Department/ Subject Area ENG
Course Number 001B
Disciplines ENG-English
Proposal Type Course Revision (Major)
Division Library, Learning Resources, and Language Arts Division
Cross Listing Courses
Course Title Critical Reading and Writing About Literature
Transcript Title Written Communications II
Course Description This course is designed to help the transfer student develop his/her critical thinking skills and read and write with college-level sophistication through writing analytical essays based on reading and discussing a culturally diverse literature. The analysis of literature through discussion and through writing is designed to develop the student's critical thinking skills as well as to increase his/her ways of understanding and interpreting the world. (UC, CSU, CAN ENGL 4, CAN ENGL SEQ A with both ENG 1A and 1B)
Community Service No
Proposed For Associate Degree
Revision
Effective Date 2010 Fall
Change MINOR
How Course is being Changed Title changed.
Comparable courses updated.
Textbook(s) updated.
Student learning outcomes and assessment updated.
Sample assignments updated.
Instructor lecture units increased.
Textbook(s) added.
Outline revised (more than 20%).
Methods of evaluation updated.
Course objectives revised (less than 20%).
Course goals revised (less than 20%).
Change Text Reading component expanded, essay strategies expanded, research component expanded, literary criticism added.
Course title changed from Written Communications II: to Critical
Reading and Writing About Literature
Course Description
Lecture Hrs: 4.00 - 4.00
Lab Hrs: 0 - 0
Student Unit Hrs: 4.00 - 4.00
Faculty Lecture Units: 4.00
Faculty Lab Units: 0
Field Trips Not Required
Grade Options 0: A-F or Inc.
Transfer/Degree Applicability Associate Degree & Transfer
Non-Credit Options
Repeated NO
Repeat Count
Repeat Frequency
Repeat Period
Repeat Units
Repeat Rationale
Challenged YES
Rationale English 1B is an advanced writing course, which focuses on literature and critical thinking. A student challenging this course would have to show mastery of the course material, including showing he/she could write adequately to the student learning outcome. Though a successful challenge would be difficult, it would not be impossible.
Fee Amount 0.00
Comparable Course Information
Comparable Course Information UC
UC Berkeley
Reading and Composition R1B
Catalog Year: 2009 Page: 2010
URL: http://sis.berkeley.edu/catalog/gcc_list_crse_req?p_dept_name=English&p_dept_cd=ENGLISH
Reading and Composition -- English (ENGLISH) R1B [4 units] Course Format: Three hours of lecture per week. Prerequisites: UC Entry Level Writing Requirement or UC Analytical Writing Placement Exam. 1A or equivalent course is prerequisite to 1B. Formerly 1B Description: Training in writing expository prose. A. Instruction in expository writing in conjunction with reading literature. Satisfies the first half of the Reading and Composition requirement. B. Further instruction in expository writing in conjunction with reading literature. Satisfies the second half of the Reading and Composition requirement. (F,SP) Staff

Community College Course
Riverside City College
English 1B
Catalog Year: 2008-2009 Page: 169
URL: http://www.academic.rcc.edu/norco/docs/CourseCatalog08_09.pdf
ENG-1B - Critical Thinking and Writing 4 units UC, CSU (CAN ENGL 4) ENG 1A+1B = (CAN ENGL SEQ A) Prerequisite: ENG-1A or 1AH. This course develops critical thinking, reading, and writing skills through the formal study of argument and literature. Composition totaling a minimum of 10,000 words serves to correlate writing with reading. Classroom activities integrate with Writing and Reading Center activities. 72 hours lecture and 18 hours laboratory. (Letter Grade only.)

CSU
California State University, Fresno
Introduction to Literature English 20
Catalog Year: 2009 Page: 2010
URL: http://www.csufresno.edu/catoffice/current/englishcrs.html
ENGL 20. Introduction to Literature (4) Prerequisites: G.E. Foundation A2 (ENGL 5B or 10). Introduction to literary appreciation and criticism through reading and close written analyses of short stories, novels, drama, and poetry from diverse Western and non-Western cultures. G.E. Breadth C2. F
Course Goals
Course Goals General Goals: Upon successful completion of this course, the student will be able to:
1. Discuss the critical thinking process by first identifying and then applying vocabulary common to short fiction, poetry, drama, and the novel.
2. Practice critical thinking skills.
3. Write argumentative essays (900 -1200 words) in different rhetorical modes, based upon the writer's audience and purpose.
4. Read, analyze, and respond, through discussions and writing, to poetry, short stories, drama, and the novel.
5. Apply literary research to literature and critical essays.
6. Avoid plagiarism by distinguishing between one's ideas from those of critical sources and peers.
Course Objectives
Course Objectives Specific Objectives: Upon successful completion of this course, the student will be able to:
1. Identify, understand, and apply concepts common to fiction such as character, setting, plot, allusion, symbolism, epiphany, point of view, denotation, connotation, metaphor, simile, tone and theme to works of fiction and critical essays.
2. Identify and apply concepts common to poetry such as open and closed forms, rhyme, rhythm, and meter to selected poems.
3. Practice critical thinking skills by identifying and distingishing between what is stated and what is implied (including identifying embedded meaning that presents itself through figurative language); by gathering enough information to make inferences; by examining biases and forming conclusions as to meaning.
4. Use inductive reasoning to identify the major and minor themes in any literary work.
5. Apply deductive reasoning to literary analyses by identifying a universal paradigm such as the "Hero's Journey" and then applying various literary works to it.
6. Identify common reasoning-based fallacies such as false analogy, hasty generalization, and false cause in both students' own writing and in the writing of literary critics.
7. Read closely, and analyze critically, a culturally diverse literature in class discussion and through written language.
8. Identify, understand, and apply common literary theories such as formal, psychoanalytical,cultural and gender criticism to works of literature.
9. Write responses to literature and compose argumentative essays about literature, which demonstrate knowledge of the writing process and the skills outlined in Objectives 1-8.
10. Avoid plagiarism by identifying and distinguishing between a quote, a paraphrase, and the ideas of others from one's own words and ideas.
Course Outcomes
Course Outcomes
  1. Outcome:Demonstrate how such elements as plot, characterization, setting, denotation, connotation, metaphor, simile, narration, voice, style, and symbolism contribute to the understanding of a common theme.
    Assessment:Write an argumentative essay of approximately 1,200 words examining three or more works of short literature or one work of longer literature (such as a novel),for which student will design his or her own original thesis and support that thesis by using primary sources (the literature itself),showing an ability to analyze, criticize, and advocate for ideas as well as demonstrating mastery in extracting quotes, paraphrasing, and citing sources. Essay will be graded on a scale of A - C (passing) or D - F (not passing). Essay will be graded on originality, form and content,including reasoning abilty, and grammatical and mechanical correctness.
Course Outline
Outline Text
  1. Review and Reinforce the Writing Processes Taught in English 1A
    1. Prewriting Techniques
    2. Organizational Techniques
    3. Steps in the Writing Process, including multiple drafts
    4. Clear and Varied Sentences 
    5. Paragraph Development
    6. Thesis Statment and Topic Sentences
    7. Patterns of Development for Essays and Paragraphs
    8. Editing and Proofreading
    9. Summary Writing
    10. Timed Writing
    11. Grammar and Usage
    12. General Research
    13. MLA Documentation
  2. Introduce the Literary Essay with Special Attention to the Argumentative Essay in its Various Forms
    1.  Essay of Explication
    2.  Comparison Essay
    3.  Causal Analysis
    4.  Research Essay
  3. Strategies to Promote Critical Reading Skills:
    1. Shared inquiryTM (from GreatBooks.org)
    2. Metacognition
    3. Make distinctions between and among literary genres, which includes vocabulary unique to each genre
    4. Apply concepts such as setting, point of view, and tone to literary works
    5. Create timelines
    6. Ask Interpretive Questions
    7. Generate and Question Assumptions
    8. Generate Inferences and Evaluate Conclusions
    9. Analyze Reasoning/Support
    10. Reread, gloss and annotate
    11. Notetaking and the double-entry notebook 
    12. Select and respond to one or more quotations
    13. Explicate a key passage
    14. Debate a position suggested by a reading
    15. Write a letter to a character
  4. Critical Thinking Skills will be elicited by examining:
    1.  Study questions
    2. Ideas and values found in literature
    3. Cultural similarities and differences found in literature
    4. Assumptions upon which various texts are based (historical, cultural, political, psychological, sociological)
    5. Inferences, predictions, and/or interpretations based on the content of the text, the historical time frame in which it was written, and the culture from which it arose
    6. Initial claim and support for that claim (deductive reasoning).
    7. Logical fallacies 
    8. Literal and figurative language, including but not limited to, symbolism, denotation and connotation, irony, metaphor and simile
    9. Distinctions between and among literary genres
    10. Contradictions in literary works
    12. Implications of a text and the meaning of these implications for the modern world 
  5. Critical Writing Skills will focus on
    1. The argumentative essay with a clear thesis statement supported by evidence from one or more primary sources and/or secondary sources
    2. The relationship of language to logic
    3. Concise and organized forms of expression
    4. Rhetorical modes, emphasizing analytical and argumentative writing as well as comparison/contrast and cause and effect
    5. Assumptions underlying the text, its meaning, and the opposing point of view
    6. Personal, reasoned conclusion
    7. Writing style with a focus on parallelism, emphasis, and conciseness
    8. Formal English diction and more colloquial diction, which is often used in fiction
    9. Grammar and usage as it applies to more sophisticated writing tasks
    10. Quoting and paraphrasing text with proper documentation
  6. Augment Research Skills Taught in English 1A though familiarizing students with on-line literary library databases such as JSTOR and Project Muse and Specialized Subject Data Bases
    1. Apply the findings of literary research to literature and essays
    2. Question the assumptions of critical texts and examine opposing points of view
    3. Understand Research as an Ethical Activity, avoiding
      1. plagiarizing
      2. misreporting or inventing results
      3. using data of questionable accuracy
      4. distorting opposing views
  7. College-level Readings - The following readings are typical of those assigned in English 1B and reflect the belief in the value of culturally diverse literature:
    1. Novels
      1. Anaya, Rodolfo. Bless Me, Ultima
      2. Camus, Albert. The Stranger
      3. Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness
      4. Erdrich, Louise. Love Medicine
      5. Faulkner, William. The Sound and the Fury
      6. Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter
      7. Morrison, Toni. Beloved
      8. Orwell, George. Nineteen Eighty-four
    2. Short Fiction
      1. Baldwin, James. "Sonny's Blues"
      2. Chekkov, Anton. "In the Ravine"
      3. Chopin, Kate. "The Storm"
      4. Ellison, Ralph. "Battle Royal"
      5. Hemingway, Ernest. "Hills Like White Elephants"
      6. Kafka, Franz. "Metamorphosis"
      7. Silko, Leslie. "Yellow Woman"
      8. Singer, Isaac. "Gimple, the Fool"
      9. Steinbeck, John. "The Raid" 
      10. Tolstoy, Leo. "The Death of Ivan Ilych"
    3. Poetry-Several titles from poets of the stature and diversity of the following:
      1. Brooks, Gwendolyn
      2. Dickinson, Emily
      3. Eliot, T. S.
      4. Frost, Robert
      5. Hughes, Langston
      6. Keats, John
      7. McKay, Claude
      8. Moore, Marianne
      9. Plath, Sylvia
      10. Rich, Adrienne
      11. Shakespeare, William
      12. Wilbur, Richard
      13. Wordsworth, William
    4. Drama
      1.  Albee, Edward. Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf?
      2. Fugard, Athol. Master Harold and the Boys
      3. Hansberry, Lorraine. A Raisin in the Sun
      4. Ibsen, Henrik. A Doll's House
      5. Jones, Leroi. The Toilet
      6. Lorca, Federico. Blood Wedding
      7. Miller, Arthur. A View from the Bridge
      8. Shakespeare, William. Any tragedy, history, or comedy
      9. Sophocles. Antigone, Oedipus Rex
      10. Williams, Tennessee. A Streetcar Named Desire
  8. The following are typical of specialized research databases consulted in English 1B:      
    1. JSTOR
    2. Project Muse
    3. Literature Criticism online
    4. Literature Resource Center
    5. Biography Resource Center 
Course Assignments
Course Assignments Other
Optional Text:
Assignments:

Students may watch films based on literature, give oral presentations based on literature, or create original works such as poetry, a scene from a play, or a short story.

  1. Watch films, based on works of fiction, such as the film SmokeSignals, based on Sherman Alexie's "This is What it Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona"; the film A Raisin in the Sun, based on Lorraine Hansberry's play by that same title; and Smooth Talk, based on Joyce Carol Oates' "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" for the purpose of comparing or contrasing the two genres.
  2. Student will orally present the thesis and key points of his/her literary research paper.
  3. Using stage directions, dialogue between Mr. and Mrs. Wright, and clues from the play "Trifles" by Susan Glaspell, students will write the missing scene.
  4. Write original poetry after studying different forms of poetry such as free verse and particular closed forms such as the sonnet.

Reading
Optional Text:
Assignments:

Students will read college level readings, with an emphasis on literature - poetry, short stories, drama, and the novel - rather than on expository prose.

  1. Students will read "Sonny's Blues" by James Baldwin, identifying such things as point of view, figurative language, and narrative voice. They will draw upon their reading skills to generate inferences and deductions concerning the text.
  2. Students will use the Socratic Method (Shared Inquiry) to discover the motivation behind Miss Emily Grierson's murder of Homer Barron in William Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily."
  3. Students will create a historical timeline for "A Raisin in the Sun" to better understand the pre-civil rights era and the social and political underpinnings of this play.
  4. Students will watch educational films on difficult texts such as "Hamlet" to gain prior knowledge and further their critical reading of classical works of literature

Writing
Optional Text:
Assignments:

Students will write 6,500 - 8,000 words divided among several writing assignments.

  1. Write an in-class essay contrasting Sonny of "Sonny's Blues" by James Baldwin with his brother, the narrator.
  2. Examine point of view in bell hooks' novel titled Bone Black.
  3. Write a documented research paper, exploring one theme in several works by one author, encompassing both biographical and critical research, using MLA format.
  4. Write an analysis of three to five poems which examine a common theme such as love, death, loneliness, family or home, women/men, sexuality, or social/political protest, after having read a dozen or more poems from the 20th century,
  5. Write an essay tracing the journey motif in a short story such as "RoseJohnny" by Barbara Kingsolver or "The Things They Carried" by Tim O'Brien, after having studied the paradigm of the Hero's Journey.
  6. In a complete essay, using the text of Hamlet by William Shakespeare as primary support, discuss the relationship between Hamlet and Ophelia, Hamlet and Gertrude, Claudius and Gertrude, Hamlet and Laertes, and/or Hamlet and Horatio.
Course Methods of Evaluation
Opt Heading The student will write a minimum of 6500 words and be evaluated on each of the following:
Course Methods of Evaluation A student's evaluation will be based on a required final examination and multiple measures of performance including critical thinking. These methods may include, but are not limited to the following.
Essays, which demonstrate critical thinking; quizzes; a midterm; presentations and group work.
Course Methods of Instruction
Opt Heading
Methods Dist Ed-Other
Internet-Delayed Inter
Lecture
Other Methods
Course Distance Education
Delivery Methods Chat Room
Online Discussions
Online Lectures
Private Messaging
Telephone
Other Methods Assignments, including essays, will be delivered through the assignment tool. Quizzes and tests will be delivered through the quizzes and tests tool.
Quality Assurance Course content is the same as that covered in on-campus sections. The online course contains the same, if not more, hours of lecture; the same, if not more, homework, examinations, and activities as an on-campus course. Like a face-to-face course, the student is required to write a minimum of 6500 words. There are regular weekly interactions with instructor and classmates in online discussion spaces such as student lounge, faculty office, unit discussion spaces, and/or project discussion spaces. Evidence of coherent, consistent writing style, voice, and content will be examined across the semester's postings, to demonstrate student's own original work. On-line resources such as turnitin.com will be utilized to detect plagiarism.
Evaluation Method Quantity and quality of substantive posts to discussions, of responsive posts to classmates and instructor; scores on quizzes and tests; in the quantity and quality of essays and projects submitted into electronic spaces such as a drop box. Evidence of coherent, consistent writing style, voice,content across semester's postings, to demonstrate student's own original work. Grading rubrics, the same as employed in a face-to-face class, will be used for grading final essays. Students will submit multiple drafts of essays, in the same way as a face-to-face class, and receive grades. A final examination is required.
Additional Resources turnitin.com
Distance Ed - Contact Types
Distance Ed - Contact Types Online Discussions - Instructor will post weekly topics and/or questions on course content for students to discuss. Students may be asked to address the whole class as well as respond to one or more individual student posts. Instructor monitors the ongoing conversation, posting responses to guide the discussion, similar to an in-class discussion. Individual and/or group class projects can be posted to a threaded discussion space set up for that purpose; the instructor and fellow students can post comments as collaborative input for the projects.
Chat Room - Students will use the chat room to talk about the class and assignments and to socialize, as they would in a face-to-face class.
Online Lectures - Instructor will post lectures as well as create links to the World Wide Web to further students' understanding of course material.
Private Messaging - Instructor and students will use private messaging as needed to ask questions about and clarify course information. Students in study groups may send private messages as a vehicle to correspond to one another.
Telephone - as needed
Course Textbooks
Textbooks Bogarad, Carley Rees and Jan Zlotnick Schmidt, Editors. Legacies: Fiction, Poetry, Drama, Nonfiction and a novel . Fourth Edition or current edition. Thomson/Wadswoth , 2009
Beatty, Jerome, Editor. The Norton Introduction to Literature and a novel . Eighth Edition or current edition. Norton , 2001
Gardner, Janet E., Editor. Literature: A Portable Anthology and a novel. First edition or current edition. Bedford St. Martins , 2004
Meyer, Michael, Editor. The Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature and a novel. Seventh Edition or current edition. Bedford St. Martins , 2009
Charters, Ann and Samuel Charters, Editors. Literature and Its Writers and a novel. Fourth edition or current edition. Bedford St. Martins , 2007
Manuals
Periodicals
Course Supplies
Course Supplies
Course Resources
Course Resources Learning Resources
Optional Text: Current support adequate.
Resources:
Computer Resources
Optional Text: Current support adequate.
Resources:
Disabled Student Programs and Services
Optional Text: Current support adequate.
Resources:
Other Resources
Optional Text: None
Resources:
Entry Skills
Entry Skills ENG 1A
  • ENG 001A - Narrow a topic to an appropriate focus, research the topic using both electronic and printed indexes, and evaluate the findings for use in a research paper.
  • ENG 001A - Paraphrase, summarize, and quote source material for a research paper.
  • ENG 001A - Evaluate sources for bias, currency, and applicability.
  • ENG 001A - Compose a research paper following assigned documentation guidelines.
  • ENG 001A - Compose an expository essay, employing appropriate patterns of development, with a structure containing introduction, body, and conclusion, and a clear, limited thesis
  • ENG 001A - Compose a timed, on-demand essay in response to a prompt, similar to university-level competency examinations.
  • ENG 001A - Revise essays for grammar, usage, structure, and content through self-evaluation, peer editing, and instructor comments.
  • ENG 001A - Read, understand, and summarize essays and book-length works.
    		•
    Course Requisites
    Course Requisites Requisite Type: Catalog Prerequisites
    Required Statute: Course Sequence
    Sub Area Course #: ENG-001A
    With a Minimum Grade of C
    Comment:

    General Education Requirements
    Proposed For Categories
     
     
    CSU General Education A.3. Comm Eng Lang/Crit Think - Critical Thinking
     
    Transfer Types Course can be transferred to UC
    IGETC
    UC Transfer course agreement
    CSU General Education
    Course can be transferred to CSU
    Course Codes
    CB00 State ID CCC000367251
    SAM Code (CB09) E = Not Occupational
    TOP Code (CB03) 1501.00 - English
    Course Credit Status (CB04) Credit - Degree Applicable
    Coop Educational Code N - N = Not Coop Education
    Coop Work Code (CB10) Y - Y = Not Applicable
    CAN Code (CB14) ENGL4 - ENGL4 A
    Course Completion Assessment Level None
    Instructional Code
    Classification Codes (CB11) A - Liberal Arts
    Print Catalog YES
    Print Class Schedule YES
    Independent Studies NO
    Open Entry NO
    Work Experience NO
    Special Topics NO
    Appointment YES
    Contract Course NO
    Basic Skills (CB08) N Not Basic Skills
    Organizational Unit Library, Learning Resources, & Language Arts Div
    Prior Skills (CB21) Y = Not applicable
    Originator Candace Andrews
    Previous Course ENG 001B Written Communications II: A Critical Introduction to Literature
    Proposal Type Course Revision (Major)
    Course Status Launched
    Admin Dates
    Academic Senate President 04/03/2008
    Superintendent/President 05/23/2008
    Board of Trustees 12/17/2008
    Discipline Group Chair 08/12/2009
    Curriculum Committee Chair 08/12/2009
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