Palomar College

English 110: Critical Thinking and Composition, Fall 2018

Instructor: Victor Perez
Email: vperez1@palomar.edu

Location: ? Office: H-313

Meeting Time: ? Office Hours: ?
Office Phone: 2392

Course Description:
In English 110 we will investigate how pop-culture has affected your community and individual
life choices as a college student in America. How have the icons of our generation influenced the
decisions we make through their rhetoric, and does it matter? Through close readings, analysis,
and research we will uncover the many ways rhetoric in media and technology work to program
our minds, and ultimately guide our thoughts and actions. With this, we must also take into
account the steady movement toward an ever-expanding metaphorical flattening of the modern
world. How has this influx of technology ultimately changed our future, and what does this mean?
Have we become a forever-morphing hegemonic hearing device with consumer compulsivity?
How has this forever-changing landscape of ideas, beliefs, and values influenced our
communities?

Course Objectives:
1. Demonstrate an ability to write both person and analytical essays based comprehension
and interpretation of primary and secondary texts
2. Analyze and synthesize information and arguments from a variety of texts, including
scholarly sources, to develop research-based essays in MLA form
3. Be able to read analytically and evaluate ideas in focused class discussion and in written
compositions: identifying and stating the main idea, thesis, or theme in expository or
argumentative discourse
4. Be able to point out instances of inferential reasoning, deductive and inductive logic
5. Be able to distinguish among opinion, judgement, and what may be taken as fact,
recognizing and articulating assumptions (including those that are unstated) in an
 argument; describing an appropriate process of verification in establishing whether a
claim is factual
6. Explore elements of signification, utilizing approaches to textual analysis such as
deconstruction, historicism, gender study, and cultural criticism
7. Recognize and identify cultural bias and encoding
8. Be able to draw and justify inferences about the intention of the writer based on
observation of diction and style (i.e. mood, tone, and metaphor)
9. Comment on the persuasive use of diction, metaphor, connotation and denotation
10. Be able to point out logical fallacies or slanted/propagandistic use of language
11. Respond to aesthetic and stylistic elements as they occur to the individual reader
12. Write compositions in which they demonstrate an ability to: assert ideas and
observations, reflecting the application of critical thinking skills
13. Manage complex standard written English and construct arguments in the form of the
essay
14. Select examples, details, data, and evidence to develop and elaborate on subtopics
15. Organize main parts of the composition, defining a sequence that contributes to clarity
and to the purpose of the writing
16. Employing print sources, electronic sources, and current technologies for information
gathering, such as the internet, electronic indexes, etc.
17. Interpreting and evaluating information from both print and electronic sources, focusing
on a topic, creating a working bibliography, taking accurate notes, recording and
organizing appropriate data, writing a rough outline, constructing a formal outline,
employing paraphrasing techniques, incorporating quotations, mastering techniques of
documentation, writing revising, and editing drafts
18. Workshop other students’ work constructively and effectively.

Required Texts:
From Inquiry to Academic Writing: A Text and Reader (Second Edition); Stuart Greene and April
Lidinsky

Additional Readings and Handouts:

Additional reading material and handouts will be made available through Blackboard.

Required Work
Active Participation/Attendance:
In addition to showing up to classes, you must also complete the assigned readings and be willing
to engage in discussion about them.

Workshops:
Classroom workshops will involve working in groups with your classmates on either assignments
or peer editing. This requires active participation and the willingness to listen to and/or give
constructive criticism. If you cannot make it to class on an editing day, rough drafts can still be
turned in for partial credit.
Assignments:
-Twitter: You are required to have an active Twitter account for the duration of this
semester. At least once a week, compose at least 1 tweet concerning a thought, question, or
impression that you had with the material presented in class that week. You can also respond to
a fellow classmate about their tweet. These tweets can be as serious or as creative as you see fit.
Be sure to include the class hashtag #ENG110 somewhere in your tweets. You will compose at
least 14 tweets over the course of the semester.
-Writing Responses: Writing a response to a given reading/lecture is important to this
class. These responses directly relate to assignments and class activities. If you are not prepared
for the class, you will have difficulty entering conversations about what is being taught. Each
response should be 2 pages in length (typed), 12-point font, and in MLA format.

Essays:
You will compose four essays over the course of the semester, with a combined total of at least
6,000 words. Essay themes will coincide with each unit’s course material/focus.
-Essay 1: Write about an event in your life that has changed you, or about a time that you
failed (?)
-Essay 2: Positive/negative effects of media advertising?
-Essay 3: [Technology]
-Essay 4: [Biology + Queer Theory]

Grading
Participation 100 points
Attendance, discussion, engagement
Workshops 150 points
10 workshops (15 points)
Assignments 170 points
10 responses (10 points)
14 tweets (5 points)
Essays 200 points
4 essays (50 points)
Total: 620 points

Point Breakdown (90-100% = A, 80-89% = B, etc.)

558 - 620 = A
496 - 557 = B
434 - 495 = C
372 - 433 = D
0 - 371 = F
Extra Credit: ?

Students with Disabilities:

Please inform the Disabilities Resource Center (DRC) and me as soon as possible in order to
make the necessary arrangements concerning your disability at the beginning of the semester.
The DRC office can be reached at (760) 744-1150 Ext. 2375

Questions:
Dude – just ask! Meet me before class, break time, or after class. There is no such thing as a
stupid question, unless you ask it ten times within the first minute of class.

MLA Guidelines:
Please refer to MLA guidelines for all work of the course. Not following guidelines will result in a
lowered grade. Most guidelines are available through the internet or numerous MLA
handbooks.

Plagiarism:
All students are required to do their own original works! Failure to provide proper citation, and
attribute thoughts, words, or ideas to the original source will result in sanctions from the
instructor or college. If You are in doubt please feel free to bring up any concerns in class, after
class, or via email.

Attendance Policy and Tardy Policy:

In this course, you are allowed only 4 absences. You will be dropped for the 5th absence –
unless you have attended class on a regular basis, or made arrangements with me. Regular
attendance is crucial to this class. Showing up tardy on a regular basis will also affect daily
participation points. If you miss more than 20% of the class sessions, you will fail this course.

Late Work:
You will have the opportunity to turn in one essay, and one homework assignment late without
penalty. You will have two days to make up those assignments. Rough draft essays that are to
be workshopped cannot be made up.