Course Lecturer Name(s): Mr. Asher Mains
Course Director Name: Mr. Asher Mains
Course Lecturer(s) Contact Information: amains@sgu.edu
Course Director Contact Information: amains@sgu.edu
Course Lecturer(s) Office Hours: by appointment
Course Director Office Hours: Tuesday, Thursday: 10:00am – 11:30 & 1:00pm – 2:30pm Wednesday: 10:00am – 2:00pm
Course Lecturer(s) Office Location: Balisier Building 1st Floor
Course Director Office Location: Balisier Building 1st Floor
Course Support: Ms. Nikisha Thomas, nsthomas@sgu.edu, ext. 3692
Course Management tool: To learn to use Sakai, the Course management tool, access the link https://apps.sgu.edu/members.nsf/mycoursesintro.pdf
Course Description:
This course aims to train students to think critically and write clearly and intelligently in their various program disciplines. At the end of the course, students should be able to express themselves effectively in a variety of writing forms for academic, professional and personal purposes.
Course Objectives:
CLO 1: Demonstrate a foundational understanding of the mechanics of writing. CLO 2: Employ strategies to critically read and analyse challenging texts.
CLO 3: Develop research writing skills specific to students’ academic disciplines.
CLO 4: Apply knowledge of research proposal, literature review, and annotated bibliography as preparatory phases towards a complete research paper.
CLO 5: Demonstrate ability to synthesize critical thought, good research skills, and good mechanics of writing in a research proposal.
Student Learning Outcomes:
SLO 1: Demonstrate critical reading and thinking skills through writing assignments.
SLO 2: Cite work correctly by summarizing, paraphrasing, and quoting.
SLO 3: Identify errors in reasoning through cognitive biases, logical fallacies, critique of logical reasoning.
SLO 4: Analyze and evaluate a variety of texts including speeches, artwork, and sources for research.
SLO 5: Demonstrate ability to conduct research and form a research question, literature review, methodology and annotated bibliography.
Program Outcomes Met By This Course:
PO. 1: Critically analyze social, cultural, and environmental issues as an individual as well as from a global perspective.
PO.3: Effectively and accurately consume and produce information orally, written, and visually to extract and construct meaning through creativity, analysis, and critical thinking.
PO.5: Examine the human experience through culture, perspective-taking, and tolerance towards becoming an empathic citizen of the world.
SAS Grading Scale: Grades will be assigned as follows:
A = 89.5% or better
B+ = 84.5 - 89.4%
B = 79.5 - 84.4%
C+ = 74.5 - 79.4%
C = 69.5 - 74.4%
D = 64.5 - 69.4%
F = 64.4% or less
Course Materials:
Text: Readings will be made available online
Course Grading Requirement:
Attendance and Participation: 10%
|
Assignments: |
30% |
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Research Project: |
30% |
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Final Exam: |
20% |
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Class Presentations: |
10% |
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TOTAL |
100% |
Assignment Details:
Assignment #1 – Informal response to letter from professor • Demonstrate thoughtful engagement with the text as if replying to a letter.
Assignment #2 – Critical response to news article • Develop a thesis statement and support it with evidence from the text.
- Use critical thinking to acknowledge different perspectives.
- Demonstrate good organization with the 5 paragraph essay.
Assignment #3 – Develop and justify a research question
- Explain and justify interest in a research topic.
- Design a focused, complex research question.
- Begin using library skills to do surface level research in order to edit the research question.
Assignment #4 – Persuasive essay
- Identify a problem and propose realistic solutions to address it.
- Appeal to your audience in terms of ethos, logos, and pathos.
- Use rhetorical devices to persuade your audience to action.
Assignment #5 – Textual analysis
- Analyze, interpret, and evaluate one of the “texts” provided; visual text, poetry, or quote.
- Identify literary devices and explain their effect.
Assignment #6 – Rhetorical analysis – Presentation • Identify rhetorical devices, appeals, biases, and fallacies in a speech.
- Demonstrate good oral and visual presentation skills.
- Collaborate with classmates in analysis and presentation.
Assignment #7 – Response to literature • Summarize a chapter of a book provided for you.
- Given a writing prompt, write creatively using vivid, figurative, descriptive language.
- Provide your opinion related to a topic covered in the chapter.
Assignment #8 – Preparation for Research • Use library skills to search for highly credible sources using resources such as library databases and Google scholar.
- Refine search results using Boolean operators and modifiers as well as adjusting according to the field of literature. • Write a literature review synthesizing and relating your sources to each other.
- Identify the type and structure of research being done with a methodology section.
- Create an annotated bibliography describing the credibility and usefulness of each source.
Course Schedule:
|
Week |
Topic |
Assignment Given |
Assignment Due |
|
1 |
Introductions/Course Overview; Writing Review; Comprehension pointers; Vocabulary
|
#1 Response to Writing Prompt |
|
|
2 |
Review: Avoiding plagiarism; Summarizing & Paraphrasing; Citing and Using Sources correctly; Using English Effectively: Common writing errors and vocabulary |
#2 Critical response to news article |
#1 Response to Writing Prompt |
|
3 |
Evaluating & Analyzing Arguments/Reasoning; Types of reasoning; Errors in logical |
#3 Develop a research question |
#2 Critical response to news articl |
|
4 |
Persuasive writing: elements of persuasion |
#4 Persuasive Essay |
|
|
5 |
Evaluating the quality and completenessof evidence; Identifying & evaluating inferences and assumptions |
Class Presentation Group & topic selection |
#3 Develop a research question |
|
6 |
Recognizing bias, Textual Analysis |
#5 Textual Analysis |
|
|
7 |
Analytical Essay |
#6 Preparation for video presentation on research topic |
#4 Persuasive Essay |
|
8 |
Midterm Week |
|
Short video presentation on Research topic |
|
9 |
Research Writing: Journal articles and research projects; Finding & Evaluating Sources; Using Sources effectively. |
|
#6 Rhetorical Analysis |
|
10 |
Speech Presentations |
|
#5 Textual Analysis |
|
11 |
Annotated Bibliography; Research Writing: Literature Reviews |
#7 Response to Literature |
|
|
12 |
Annotated Bibliography & Literature Reviews |
Assignment #8 Research Proposal & Annotated Bibliography |
#7 Response to Literature |
|
13 |
Feedback on Research Project Literature Review & Annotated Bibliography
|
|
|
|
14 |
Feedback on Research Project Literature Review & Annotated Bibliography |
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#8 Research Preparation; Annotated Bibliography, Literature Review, Methodology |
|
15 |
Final Review |
|
|
|
16 |
Final Exam Week |
|
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Assignments with due dates:
- Week 2: Response to Letter Essay
- Week 3: Assignment #1: Personal Response to Article Essay
- Week 5: Assignment #2: Research Topic
- Week 7: Assignment #3: Persuasive Proposal
- Week 8: Short video presentation on research topic
- Week 10: Assignment #4: Analytical Essay
- Week 10: Group Presentations analyzing speeches
- Week 12: Assignment #5: Literary Analysis
- Week 14: Assignment # 6: Research Project and Annotated Bibliography Week 16: Video Presentation on Research Topic
School of Arts and Sciences Master Syllabi — Info for All Sections
Academic Integrity
The St. George’s University Student Manual (2019/2020) states as follows:
“Plagiarism is regarded as a cardinal offense in academia because it constitutes theft of the work of someone else, which is then purported as the original work of the plagiarist. Plagiarism draws into disrepute the credibility of the Institution, its faculty, and students; therefore, it is not tolerated” (p. 48).
Plagiarism also includes the unintentional copying or false accreditation of work, so double check your assignments BEFORE you hand them in.
Be sure to do good, honest work, credit your sources and reference accordingly and adhere to the University’s Honor Code. Plagiarism and cheating will be dealt with very seriously following the university’s policies on Plagiarism as outlined in the Student Manual.
Your work may be subject to submission to plagiarism detection software, submission to this system means that your work automatically becomes part of that database and can be compared with the work of your classmates.
The St. George’s University Student Manual (2019/2020) states as follows:
“Students are expected to attend all classes and or clinical rotations for which they have registered. Although attendance may not be recorded at every academic activity, attendance may be taken randomly. Students’ absence may adversely affect their academic status as specified in the grading policy. If absence from individual classes, examinations, and activities, or from the University itself is anticipated, or occurs spontaneously due to illness or other extenuating circumstances, proper notification procedures must be followed. A particular course may define additional policies regarding specific attendance or participation” (p. 9).
The St. George’s University Student Manual (2019/2020) states as follows:
“All matriculated students are expected to attend all assigned academic activities for each course currently registered. Medical excuses will be based on self-reporting by students. Students who feel they are too sick to take an examination or other required activity on a specific day must submit the online SAS medical excuse, which is available on Carenage. Students are only allowed two such excuses a year. Upon consultation with the Director of University Health Service, the third excuse will result in a mandatory medical leave of absence. The policies regarding make-up examinations are at the option of the Course Director” (p.46).
For additional specific examination policies and procedures, refer to the St. George’s University Student Manual (2019/2020), pages 31 through 37.
The St. George’s University Student Manual (2019/2020) states as follows:
“A student with a disability or disabling condition that affects one or more major life activities, who would like to request an accommodation, must submit a completed application form and supporting documentation to the Student Accessibility and Accommodation Services (SAAS) located in the Dean of Students Office. It is highly recommended that students applying for accommodations do so at least one month before classes begin to allow for a more efficient and timely consideration of the request. If a fully completed application is not submitted in a timely fashion, an eligibility determination may not be made, and accommodations, where applicable, may not be granted prior to the commencement of classes and/or examinations” (p. 8).
It is the responsibility of the student to read and understand the policies, laws, rules and procedures that while they could affect your grade for a course, have not been specifically outlined in the course syllabus. These are contained in the St. George’s University Student Manual.