“History collapses into images, not stories”
--Walter Benjamin, German philosopher (1892-1940)
English 116: Critical Thinking and Composition
Fall 2013
Professor John Rieder
Section 23: Tuesdays & Thursdays, 12:00-1:50 (Rm 225)
Office: 430D
Email: jrieder@swccd.edu
Office Phone: 619-421-6700x5558
Mailbox: School of Language and Literature (Rm 430J)
Office Hours: Monday: 12:30-2:20; Tuesday: 11:00-11:50; Wednesday: 12:30-2:20;
Course website: riederswc.wordpress.com
Course Description
English 116 is a four-unit, transfer-level course designed to make students stronger
readers, thinkers, and writers and to prepare them for academic work in a variety of
disciplines. The course will generally emphasize critical thinking, logical analysis, and
effective argumentation.
In this particular section of English 116, we will be considering visuality—
specifically, visual-media representations, their complex forms and meanings, and their
power to shape and be shaped by our thinking. As critics Lisa Cartwright and Marita
Sturken have emphasized,
We are...at a moment in history in which the visual matters more than ever,
as representation, as information, as politics, as provocation, as forms of play
and entertainment, and as both a connecting force and a source of conflict
around the world.
What power do images have? To what extent do images inform how we understand
ourselves, others, as well as the world around us? What is the relationship between
images—which are produced, distributed, and consumed in a variety of ways—and what
we call “the real,” what we perceive to be true, and what we value?
In approaching these broad questions, you will be undertaking several critical writing
projects in response to a variety of texts. As a class, we will be looking critically at many
different cultural objects: essays, of course, but also media such as oil paintings;
photographs; advertisements; fashion; a graphic novel; and a few films. Expect to do lots of
close reading/viewing and careful writing in this course.
Student Learning Outcomes
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1. Compose analytical essays that effectively utilize source materials and critical thinking.
2. Evaluate the roles of the social, historical, and cultural contexts that influence the reading
of a text, utilizing the skills of inference and rhetorical analysis.
Required Texts
Bechdel, Allison. Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2006
Berger, John. Ways of Seeing. London: Penguin, 1972.
Elder, Richard. The Thinker’s Guide to Fallacies. Foundation for Critical Thinking, 2006.
Important Note: Additional required readings available in PDF format at the course
website: riederswc.wordpress.com. You must download, print and read these carefully in
advance of the relevant class meeting.
Major Assignments/ Course Requirements/Grading
5 Short Reading Responses (300-600 words each)
Exam on Course Concepts (Week 7)
Advertisement Analysis (750-900 words)
Photography Analysis (1000-1250 words)
Film Analysis (1750-2000 words)
In-Class Essay (two-hour final exam)
Reading Quizzes
Active Participation (i.e., engagement, timely drafts, peer workshops)
10%
10%
10%
20%
25%
10%
5%
10%
On Reading Responses
At various points throughout the semester, you will compose brief (1-2 page) analyses in
response to one or more of the texts up for discussion on a given day. More often than not, I
will provide a prompt that will ask you to respond coherently and critically to some specific
aspect of one or more of the assigned pieces. These responses must be formal and
critical—no personal narratives and no responses structured around statements of fact.
You should be prepared to make a short, controlled argument and support this argument
with evidence from the text—just as you would with a longer essay. In fact, try to think of
these reading responses as “warm ups” for the more important analysis papers.
Please Note: The three Analysis Papers will each undergo one rough draft prior to being
submitted for a grade. To pass the course, you must score a 70% or higher on each of the
final drafts of the three papers and on the in-class essay. Furthermore, regardless of points
accumulated, it is ultimately at the instructor’s discretion to determine if your performance
warrants a passing grade.
Course Policies for English 116
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1. ATTENDANCE: Attendance is essential and reflects your commitment to your education.
You are expected to attend every class session, to arrive to class promptly, and to accept
responsibility for all assignments and announcements. Two late arrivals count as an
absence. If you arrive after I’ve taken roll, it is your responsibility to notify me. If you have
any questions, please discuss them with me outside of class. If you miss more than 4 class
meetings—or more than 8 hours of total class time—you will be dropped.
2. PREPARATION: You must come to class having done the reading, homework, or writing
that is due on that day. Be prepared for reading quizzes, which may be unannounced. Also,
all work is due at the beginning of class. If you are clearly unprepared for the day’s work, I
will dismiss you and mark you absent.
3. LATE WORK: All work must be turned in on time. Homework assignments lose a fullletter grade for every day (24 hours) they’re late. You may turn in one major
assignment one class meeting late by using the LATE ESSAY PASS included at the end of
this syllabus. Also, there is no “extra credit.” If you focus on completing what I assign, you
won’t need it.
4. ACADEMIC HONESTY: Don’t pretend to have done writing that was done by somebody
else. This course maintains a ZERO TOLERANCE policy for plagiarism and other forms of
cheating. The very least penalty for plagiarism is an F in the course, and cases may be
referred to the Dean of Student Affairs. Moreover, if I have any questions about the
authenticity of your work, I may ask you to produce your notes and earlier drafts and/or
require that you complete some other task to demonstrate that your work is your own.
I also reserve the right to have everyone submit his/her work to SafeAssign in Blackboard
to check for plagiarized content. Failure to do so will also result in an F in the course.
Staying in this class indicates your acceptance of this policy.
5. COURSE CONTENT: This course will challenge you to analyze subjects about which you
may have strong opinions. Furthermore, some of the materials that we will be
reading/viewing contain “mature content” and represent unconventional viewpoints
regarding sexuality, race, politics, economics, etc. If you object to reading about, writing
about, and/or discussing such issues, it is recommended that you enroll in a different
section of English 116.
6. CLASSROOM ETIQUETTE: Everybody participates. You only earn minimal credit for
showing up. Give your full attention when others are speaking. A student who engages in
disruptive behavior (for example, chatting, sleeping, texting, listening to an mp3 player)
will be dismissed from class and marked absent. A note about cell phones: Shut yours down
before entering the classroom. If you truly have an emergency situation that you believe
warrants your phone being on, discuss it with me before class. Otherwise, see the penalty
for “disruptive behavior” above. Sexist, racist, and homophobic comments, as well as other
kinds of demeaning language, are offensive and inconsistent with an academic atmosphere;
they will not be given a forum in this class.
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7. ACADEMIC ACCOMMODATIONS: If you have a disability (vision or hearing difficulties, a
learning difference, physical impairment, etc.), please let me know right away, and I will do
my best to accommodate you. Contact your DSS specialist for the Academic
Accommodations Form, and give me a copy so that I can make any necessary adjustments
for you. An alternative media form of this syllabus is available on request.
8. WRITING CENTER: English 116 assumes college-level writing proficiency, including the
appropriate grammar and punctuation skills. If any aspect of your writing is not yet at
this level, it is your responsibility to improve these skills through the use of campus
resources like the Writing Center and Online Writing Lab (OWL). The Southwestern
College Writing Center provides free tutoring to writers of all levels of ability on a walk-in
basis. The purpose of the Writing Center is to guide and teach students rather than to “fix”
papers; tutoring is designed to help you develop and refine skills that you will carry with
you beyond a given assignment or course. The tutors will be happy to assist you at any
stage of the writing process.
Academic Success Center Referral: To further your success, reinforce concepts, and
achieve the stated learning objectives for this course, I refer you to Academic Success
Center learning assistance services. You will be automatically enrolled in NC 3: Supervised
Tutoring, a free noncredit course that does not appear on your transcripts. Services are
located in the ASC (420), the Writing Center (420D), the Reading Center (420), Math Center
(426), the Library/LRC Interdisciplinary Tutoring Lab, MESA, specialized on-campus
School tutoring labs, the Higher Education Center, and the San Ysidro Education Center.
Online learning materials and Online Writing Lab (OWL) are available at
www.swccd.edu/~asc.
Course Schedule
WEEK ONE: SEEING: THEORIES AND PRACTICE
8/20
I. Course Introduction
Concept: Representation
II. Concept: Allegory
Plato, “Allegory of the Cave” (website)
Reading Response #1 Due
WEEK TWO: SEEING: THEORIES AND PRACTICE
8/27
I. Concept: Mystification
Berger, Ways of Seeing Ch. 1 (p. 7-16)
II. Concepts: Ideology, Denotation/Connotation
Sturken & Cartwright, Ch. 1 excerpts, “Images and Ideology” & “How We
Negotiate the Meaning of Images” (website)
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WEEK THREE: IDEOLOGY & MASS IMAGES
9/3
I. Concept: The Gaze
Berger, Ways of Seeing, Ch. 3
hooks, “The Oppositional Gaze” (website)
II. Garland-Thomson, “The Politics of Staring” (website)
WEEK FOUR: IDEOLOGY & MASS IMAGES
9/10
I. Concept: Consumerism
Sturken & Cartwright, Ch. 7 excerpts,” Consumer Societies” & “Envy, Desire,
and Belonging” (website)
Berger, Ways of Seeing, Ch. 7
II. Assign Advertising Analysis
Writing a Complex Thesis Statement
WEEK FIVE: PHOTOGRAPHIC IMAGES & HISTORICAL MEMORY
9/17
I. Ad Analysis Rough Draft Due (3 copies)
Sample Ad Analyses
Peer Workshop
II. Ad Analysis Final Due
Berger, Ch. 1, cont. (16-32)
Film Screening: La Jeteé (1962, Dir. C. Marker)
WEEK SIX: PHOTOGRAPHIC IMAGES & HISTORICAL MEMORY
9/24
I. Concept: Postmemory
Hirsch, “Projected Memory” (website)
II. Concept: Historical Truthfulness
Morris-Suzuki, “Shadows on the Lens” (website)
Reading Response #3 Due
Assign Photography Analysis
WEEK SEVEN: PHOTOGRAPHIC IMAGES & HISTORICAL MEMORY
10/1
I. Exam on Course Concepts: Weeks 1-6
5
II. Photo Analysis Rough Draft Due (3 copies)
Peer Review
Developing Coherent Body Paragraphs
WEEK EIGHT: PHOTOGRAPHIC IMAGES & HISTORICAL MEMORY
10/8
I. Conferences
II. Conferences
WEEK NINE: FILM AS HISTORY
10/15
I. Photo Analysis Final Due
Screening: Night of the Living Dead (1968, Dir. G. Romero)
II. Concept: Socio-historical context
Discuss Night of the Living Dead
Assign Film Analysis
WEEK TEN: FILM AS HISTORY
10/22
I. Proposal Due (200-300 words)
Group Conferences
II. Corrigan, excerpts, “Film History,” “Ideology,” and “Researching the
Movies” (website)
WEEK ELEVEN: FILM AS HISTORY
10/29
I. Library Visit
II: Corrigan, “Beginning to Think, Preparing to Watch, and Starting to Write” (website)
Analyzing Film Form
Concepts: Mise-en-scène & cinematography
WEEK TWELVE: FILM AS HISTORY
11/5
I. Annotated Bibliography Due (1 copy)
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Concepts: Editing & Sound
II. Intro, Working Thesis, and Outline Due (3 copies)
Peer Review
WEEK THIRTEEN: FILM AS HISTORY
11/12
I. Film Analysis Rough Draft Due (3 copies)
Peer Review
II. Conferences
WEEK FOURTEEN: FILM AS HISTORY
11/19
I. Conferences
II. Thanksgiving Holiday
WEEK FIFTEEN: FILM AS HISTORY
11/26
I. Film Analysis Final Due
II. Analyzing Comics
WEEK SIXTEEN: GRAPHIC NARRATIVE/REPRESENTING EXPERIENCE
12/3
I. Excerpt from McCloud, Understanding Comics (website)
II. Bechdel, Fun Home
WEEK SEVENTEEN: GRAPHIC NARRATIVE/ REPRESENTING EXPERIENCE
12/10
I. Bechdel, Fun Home
II. Prep for Final
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FINALS WEEK
12/14-12/20
In-class Essay: Tuesday, 12/1710:30am-12:30pm
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LATE ESSAY PASS
Complete the following information and staple this pass to the major essay
you are submitting one class meeting late. (Cannot be applied to short writing
exercises or the in-class essay.)
Name/Course:____________________________Date:______________
Assignment:____________________Original Due Date:___________
Instructor’s Signature:______________________________
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