Week 1 (2/3-2/9)

Assigned Content:

• Course Syllabus (the one you're reading right now) 

• Canvas Home Page

• Course Information Module

Class Focus:

• Welcome & Course Orientation

• Canvas Tour & Assignment Guidelines

• Syllabus Review

• Argumentation

• Critical Thinking

• Audience

There will be one Participation Assignment this week totaling 5 points

Week 2 (2/10-2/16)

Assigned Content:

• "How To Think, Not What to Think" - Jesse Richardson

• "The Danger of a Single Story" - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

• "Fixed vs. Growth: The Two Basic Mindsets That Shape Our Lives" - Maria Popova

• "Growth Mindset vs. Fixed Mindset"

Class Focus:

• Rhetorical Devices/Aristotelian Appeals

• Rhetorical Analysis Essay Prompt

• Argumentative Thesis Statements

Assignments due by 12:00 pm Wednesday 2/12

• Reading Response Discussion 1

There will be one Participation Assignment this week totaling 5 points.

Week 3 (2/17-2/23)

*Monday 2/17 Class Cancelled 

Presidents' Day*

Assigned Content:

• "Why We Should Give Free Money To Everyone" - Rutger Bregman

• "The Story We Tell About Millenials - And Who We Leave Out" - Reniqua Allen

• "Facing Our Fears Can Change the World" - Wayne Maines

• "What Latinos Look Like" - Carlos Andres Gomez

• "Writing in the Age of Distraction" by Cory Doctorow

Class Focus:

• Logical Fallacies

• Summarizing Sources

Assignments due by 12:00 pm Wednesday 2/19

• Reading Response Discussion 2

Assignments due by 11:59 pm Sunday 2/23

• Prewriting 1

There will be one Participation Assignment this week totaling 5 points.

Week 4 (2/24-3/2)

Class Focus:

• Peer Review

• Revision Workshop

• MLA Review

• Incorporating Quotes

Assignments due by 11:59 pm Sunday 3/2

• Rhetorical Analysis Essay

There will be one Participation Assignment this week totaling 5 points.

Week 5 (3/3-3/9)

Assigned Content:

• "Sustainability Gone Mad on College Campuses" by George Will

• "George Will Goes Mad Over Campus Sustainability" by Peter Cannavo

• "Did Diversity Miss the Train at Union Station's Architecture" by Ray Rinaldi

• "Is America's Civil Architecture Inherently Racist?" by Dean Saitta

Class Focus:

• The Toulmin Model

• Rebuttal Arguments

• Concessions

• Works Cited Review

Assignments due by 12:00 pm Wednesday 3/5

• Reading Response Discussion 3

There will be one Participation Assignment this week totaling 5 points.

Week 6 (3/10-3/16)

Assigned Content:

• "Does the Internet Make You Smarter?" - Clay Shirky

• "Does the Internet Make You Dumber?" - Nicholas Carr

• "For Many College Isn't Worth It" - Richard Vedder

• "College Is Still Worth It" - Anthony Carnevale

Class Focus:

• Rebuttal Arguments Continued

• Toulmin Model Continued

• Counterargument vs. Refutation

• Essay Exam Prep

Assignments due by 11:59 pm Thursday 3/13

• Essay Exam 1

There will be one Participation Assignment this week totaling 5 points.

Week 7 (3/17-3/23)

Assigned Content:

• "The True Meaning of the Word 'Cisgender'" by Sunnivie Brydum

• "Six Rules For Eating Wisely" by Michael Pollan

• "Why I Don't Buy Organic and Why You Might Not Want to Either" by Steven Savage

Class Focus:

• Definition Arguments

• Understanding Arguments of Definition

• Kinds of Definitions

• Definition Argument Essay Prompt

Assignments due by 12:00 pm Wednesday 3/19

• Reading Response Discussion 4

There will be one Participation Assignment this week totaling 5 points.

Week 8 (3/24-3/30)

Assigned Content:

• "I Want a Wife" by Judy Brady

• "Call Obesity What It Is: A Disease" by Ted Kyle

• "How I Went From Fat and Healthy to Diseased Overnight" by Peggy Howell

Class Focus:

• Reading Strategies/Close Reading

• Media Literacy

• Developing a Definitional Argument

Assignments due by 12:00 pm Wednesday 3/26:

• Reading Response Discussion 5

Assignments due by 11:59 pm Sunday 3/30:

• Prewriting 2

There will be one Participation Assignment this week totaling 5 points.

*Spring Break 3/31 - 4/6*

Week 9 (4/7-4/13)

Assigned Content:

• All American Boys - "Friday"

  • • "Zoom In"

    • "Rashad"

    • "Quinn"

Class Focus:

• Peer Review

• Revision Workshop

• Sentence Structure & Argument

• Punctuation & Argument

Assignments due by 11:59pm Sunday 4/13:

• Definition Essay

There will be one Participation Assignment this week totaling 5 points.

Week 10 (4/14-4/20)

Assigned Content:

• All American Boys - Saturday

  • • "Rashad"

    • "Quinn"

• "To Lecture or Not to Lecture?" by Paul T Corrigan

• "Are College Lectures Unfair?" by Annie Murphy Paul

Class Focus:

• Book Club

• Understanding Evaluation

• Criteria of an Evaluation

Assignments due by 12:00 pm Wednesday 4/16:

• Reading Response Discussion 6

There will be one Participation Assignment this week totaling 5 points.

Week 11 (4/21-4/27)

Assigned Content:

• All American Boys - "Sunday"

  • • "Rashad"

    • "Quinn"

• "The Secret of Scooby-Doo's Enduring Appeal" by Christopher Orr

• "Is Burning Trash a Good Way to Handle It? Waste Incineration in Five Charts" by Ana Baptista

Class Focus:

• Book Club

• Evaluation Arguments

• Essay Exam 2 Prep

Assignments due by 12:00 pm Wednesday 4/23:

• Reading Response Discussion 7

There will be one Participation Assignment this week totaling 5 points.

Week 12 (4/28-5/4)

Assigned Content:

• All American Boys - "Monday"

  • • "Quinn"

    • "Rashad"

Class Focus:

• Book Club

• Evaluation Arguments

• Essay Exam 2 Prep

Assignments due by 11:59 pm Thursday 5/1:

• Essay Exam 2

There will be one Participation Assignment this week totaling 5 points.

Week 13 (5/5-5/11)

Assigned Content:

• All American Boys - "Tuesday"

  • • "Quinn"

    • "Rashad"

• "Hydropower Dams Can Harm Coastal Areas Far Downstream" by Pauls Ezcurra & Octavio Aburto

• "Lessons From London: How Hosting the Paralympics Can Make Cities More Accessible" by David Bamford

• "When We Design for Disability, We All Benefit" - Elise Roy

Class Focus:

• Book Club

• Causal Research Essay Prompt

• Understanding & Developing Causal Arguments

Assignments due by 12:00 pm Wednesday 5/7:

• Reading Response Discussion 8

There will be one Participation Assignment this week totaling 5 points.

Week 14 (5/12-5/18) 

Assigned Content:

• All American Boys - "Wednesday"

  • • "Quinn"

    • "Rashad"

• "The Dead Grandmother/Exam Syndrome and the Potential Downfall of American Society" by Mike Adams

• "The Impact of Arts Education on Workforce Preparation" by Phil Psilos

Class Focus:

• Annotated Bibliography

• Causal Arguments

• Defining the Causal Relationship

• Book Club

Assignments due by 11:59 pm Sunday 5/18:

• Prewriting 3

There will be one Participation Assignment this week totaling 5 points

Week 15 (5/19 - 5/25)

Assigned Content:

• All American Boys - "Thursday"

  • • "Quinn"

    • "Rashad"

Class Focus:

• The CRAAP Test

• Multimodal Arguments

• Interacting With Sources Activity

• Book Club

Assignments due by 11:59 pm Sunday 5/25

• Causal Research Essay

There will be one Participation Assignment this week totaling 5 points

Week 16 (5/26-5/31)

*Monday 5/26 Class Cancelled 

Memorial Day*

Assigned Content:

• All American Boys - "Friday"

  • • "Quinn"

    • "Rashad"

    • "Quinn and Rashad"

    • "Zoom Out"

Class Focus:

• Book Club

• Essay Exam 3 Prep

Assignments due by 11:59 pm Thursday 5/29:

• Essay Exam 3 

There will be one Participation Assignment this week totaling 5 points