Welcome to ENGL 1102
Instructor: Najmeh Dehghanitafti
Textbook: Writing and reading across the curriculum
Aim of the course
 Learn to think & read critically
 Develop critical writing skills
When you think and read
critically:
 You understand the overall structure of the text,
including:
 The thesis
 The Rhetorical approaches
 The Arguments
 The Evidences provided for the arguments
 Mostly detached from one’s ideas and opinions
Academic Writing
Builds on careful study
Differs from personal writing and
business writing
Personal writing makes private experience
public
Business writing promotes the interests of a
company
Purpose of class
 In this class we will learn to:
 Read effectively
 Approach different types of academic writing
 Summarize
 Critique
 Find and effectively use good sources
 Effectively develop and support a thesis
 Overall, we will learn to:
 Be good critical consumers of information
 Be persuasive and effective academic writers
Assignments
 Summary
 Critique
 Synthesis essay
 Annotated bibliography
 Argumentative research paper
Cultivating Intellectual
Curiosity (1 of 2)
A Single Topic can be Studied from Multiple
Disciplinary Perspectives
 Each discipline approaches a topic in characteristic
ways
 What = content
 How = thinking critically about the content
 Critical = careful and alert
Cultivating Intellectual
Curiosity (2 of 2)
Skills that Anchor Intellectual Life at College
 Exploring similarities and differences
 Arguing with logic and evidence
 Challenging arguments
 Communicating critical thinking through writing
Exploring Similarities and
Differences
 Study examples of a topic
 Compare and contrast
 Use logic and evidence both to present
work and review the work of others
 Argument
Arguing
with
Logic
and
Evidence
 The ability to examine evidence
 The ability to reach a conclusion
 The ability to convince others
Challenging Arguments
Don’t Accept Faulty Arguments as True
 Challenging arguments is as important as making
them
 In the academic world, no view is immune to
challenge
Academic Writing is Distinguished By
 The questions posed about the topic
 The methods used to investigate it
Communicating
Critical Thinking
Through Writing (1
of 2)
 Think critically
 Question similarities and differences
 Argue using logic and evidence
 Challenge the work of others
Communicating Critical Thinking
Through Writing (2 of 2)
Five typical forms of writing
 Summary
 Evaluation
 Explanation
 Argument
 Analysis