Official Course Outline

Date: 4/30/03

1. TITLE: Reading 846: Reading and Writing Connections

5.0 Units, 5 class hours per week and 1 by-arrangement hour per week

Writing Prerequisite: Completion of ENGL 826, ESOL 840 or 841/842 with a grade of C or higher or eligibility for ENGL 836, ENGL 400, or ENGL 846 on approved college placement test and multiple measures.

Reading Prerequisite: Completion of READ 826, ESOL 840 or 841/842 with credit or a grade of C or higher or eligibility for READ 836, ENGL 400, or READ 846 on approved Reading Placement Test and multiple measures.

2. COURSE CLASSIFICATION
Credit course applicable to the Associate Degree

3. CATALOG DESCRIPTION:
This course, which will emphasize reading and writing as interrelated processes, introduces students to college level reading and writing. It will include instruction in thesis construction, organization, development, sentence skills, text-based writing, and effective reading strategies to improve comprehension, analysis, and vocabulary, meeting five hours plus one hour by arrangement per week. READ 846 prepares students for English 100/105. It is not open to students who have completed ENGL 836 or READ 836 with a grade of C or better.

4. OVERALL AIMS:
This course is for students who are pursuing their AS/AA degrees and/or are planning on enrolling in transfer-level English courses.

5. SPECIFIC INSTRUCTIONAL OBJECTIVES:
This course will provide students opportunities to grow as readers and writers in a student-centered environment. Experiencing reading and writing as interrelated processes, they will explore through reading, writing, and discussion of a range of complex issues across disciplines. Although there is substantial guidance in the writing process, instruction in essay writing assumes an understanding of sentence and paragraph structure.

During the semester, students are expected to learn how to:

A. see reading and writing as interrelated processes

B. develop and organize ideas into essays

C. revise, edit, and proofread

D. read and write from text that is generally at the high school to college level

E. write using a variety of essay forms, with an emphasis on compare-contrast, classification, persuasion

F. vary sentences in type and structure

G. express their ideas clearly

H. write effective, coherent, unified essays relatively free of errors

I. improve vocabulary: working with prefixes, roots and suffixes, using context clues, and employing memory strategies

J. strengthen comprehension by distinguishing main ideas from supporting details and relationships between ideas

K. apply writing strategies to increase comprehension and retention: previewing/reviewing techniques (such as KWL+, SQ3R, etc), summarizing, mapping, outlining, annotating, and note-taking.

L. learn to: evaluate arguments; make reasonable inferences; analyze logical reasoning and the fallacies of logic; distinguish fact from opinion; and determine connotation, denotation and figurative language

6. COURSE CONTENT:
READ 846 includes instruction in the following areas:

A. Critical writing-- The majority of expository writings will be text-based and less personal narrative or descriptive, and they will ask students to integrate quotations, paraphrase, cite sources, as well as analyze and interpret textual content.

.........1. Pre-writing activities

......... 2. Supporting details and analysis

......... 3. Organization: paragraph and essay unity and coherence

......... 4. Topic sentences/thesis statements

......... 5. Introductions and conclusions

......... 6. Revision, editing and proofreading

......... 7. Sentence-combining

......... 8. Various rhetorical modes with an emphasis on compare-contrast, classification, persuasion

......... 9. Introduction to library research

......... 10. Incorporate sources: paraphrasing, summarizing, and quoting

B. Critical reading (emphasis on non-fiction)/ critical thinking

......... 1. Applying vocabulary development techniques

......... 2. Distinguishing between main ideas and supporting details

......... 3. Understanding relationships between ideas

......... 4. Pre-reading strategies such as previewing, coding, and activating schema

......... 5. Reading strategies such as summarizing, mapping, outlining, annotating, and note-taking.

......... 6. Reflecting, analyzing, and connecting ideas

......... 7. Selecting and developing relevant evidence that supports a thesis or proposition

......... 8. Examining assumptions about themselves and the world.

......... 9. Recognizing purpose, strategies, and rhetorical devices

......... 10. Distinguishing between fact and opinion/inferences

......... 11. Using logical reasoning

......... 12. Making inferences and understanding connotation, denotation and figurative language

......... 13. Exposing students to readings across the disciplines

C. Proofreading and editing with an emphasis on the following on an as-needed basis:

......... 1. Fragments and run-together sentences

......... 2. Verb forms, tenses, and subject/verb agreement

......... 3. Punctuation and capitalization

......... 4. Pronoun, adjective, and adverb use

7. METHODS OF INSTRUCTION:

A. A variety of methods will be used: discussion, lecture, collaborative groups, computer-assisted instruction, use of media, in-class writing, individual work with the instructor, group presentations, homework, worksheets, exercises, library and Internet research.

B. Students can expect regular reading assignments in their text and other materials. They will respond to the assignments in a variety of ways: comprehension and vocabulary questions; summaries, journals, maps, charts, outlines, notes, quizzes, collaborative group discussions and presentations. The by-arrangement hour can be utilized for individualized reading instruction and assistance, computer-assisted instruction, on-campus workshops and lectures, instructor conferences, and other activities as assigned.

Students are required to write 4000-6000 words (16-24 pages of 250 words per page) during the semester, usually in essays of 500-1250+ words.

8. SUGGESTED TEXT(S):
Assign fiction and non -fiction selections and one or more full-length texts. Please consult the departmental handbook for additional suggestions.

Some suggested readers are "Reading and Writing Connections" designed by Karen Wong and Rachel Bell, Kennedy and Kennedy's The Bedford Reader, Opposing Viewpoints series (Greenhaven Press), Michael Petracca and Madeleine Sorapure's Common Culture: Reading and Writing about American Popular Culture, Robinson and Tucker's Texts and Contexts, and Eschholz and Rosa's Subjects and Strategies.

Some suggested book-length works are Esmeralda Santiago's When I Was Puerto Rican, James McBride's The Color of Water, Julia Alvarez's How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents, Rudolfo Anaya's Bless Me, Ultima, Arturo Arias' After the Bombs, Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, Gloria Naylor's The Women of Brewster Place, Chaim Potok's My Name Is Asher Lev, Victor Villasenor's Macho! or Rain of Gold, Alice Walker's The Third Life of Grange Copeland, Bill Lee's Chinese Playground, Neil Postman and Steve Powers' How to Watch TV News, Ben Hamper's Rivethead: Tales from the Assemblyline.

9. EVALUATION OF STUDENT PERFORMANCE:
Letter grade only. Passing grade based on satisfactory completion of writing tasks, quizzes, conscientious attendance, and effective participation.