AD1 Critical Thinking 2009 Wednesday 2:55-4:30

1. AD1 Critical Thinking 2009Wednesday 2:55-4:30 Wendy M. Gough St. Mary College/ Nunoike Gaigo Senmon Gakko 1-12-23 Aoi, Higashi-Ku Nagoya 461-0004, Japan

2. Course Goal Learning skills for critical thinking, reading, writing, and discussion through comparing issues in Japanese and American women’s literature.

3. You can find background information about critical thinking and reading, feminist theory, and the authors on the Critical Thinking page on my homepage http://wendysintoenglish.com/

4. Course Contents An introduction to critical reading, thinking, and discussion techniques An introduction to Japanese and American women’s literature Discussion of themes in Japanese and American women’s literature, symbolism in literature, and social issues that affect the writer’s and reader’s point of view

5. Assignments 1 You will complete weekly reading assignments and discuss the readings in class. Reading question will be provided to help you understand the readings and think of ideas to discuss. Reading List Sugita Hisajo: “O Flower Garment Tada Chimako: “Mirror” Kora Rumiko: “Woman” Nishi Junko: “Revolution” Emily Dickinson: 67, 835, 1455, 1659 Anne Sexton: “Housewife” Marge Piercy: “Barbie Doll” Anne Bradstreet: “The Prologue”

6. Assignments 2 Reading Journals: For each reading assignment you will need to write at least one entry into your reading journal in which you reflect on the reading by writing your thoughts about the reading and making notes of any questions or opinions you have about the reading. These reflections will help you organize your ideas for the class discussion as well as for the required essay at the end of the semester. Each entry should be at least one page but you can write more if you like to. Reading Journal Due Date: July 15

7. Assignments 3 You will be required to write one reflection essay at the end of the semester. You may choose which reading assignment to write your paper about. All essays must be written using APA Style citations and submitted via the Critical Thinking file folder on your Writing Studio class page. I will teach you how to use APA style citations before the essay is due. Reflection Paper Due Date: July 15

8. Critical Thinking 1 The practice of critical thinking is probably not new to you, but you might be unsure of how to apply it to academic work in a strategic way. The most important thing to know about critical thinking is that it is, like reading is, a skill that can be developed and mastered with time and practice.

9. Critical Thinking 2 Ask Questions! One of the best things you can do to develop your ability to think critically is to become conscious of applying a series of questions to whatever you read. So, what are some of these questions? The expert answer is that the questions that are important to ask will become evident from the structure of the material you are reading. While there are a limitless number of possible questions to ask, it is possible to categorize the questions you come up with into categories that represent the level of thinking the questions make you do.

10. How to Read Critically 1 Be an active reader! Being an active reader means setting reading goals, having a personal purpose for reading, developing an understanding of the organization of the reading, reading selectively, reading to link key ideas to important details and with a view to connecting ideas to a context, and reading thoughtfully and critically.

11. How to Read Critically 2 Use a Strategy! Develop a strategy that involves surveying, questioning, reading, reciting and reviewing.  If you choose not to subscribe to any particular strategy, use the principles that underlie them: previewing for an overview, questioning, summarizing, recording ideas in key word form, reciting ideas, reflecting about what was read, reviewing learning regularly.

12. How to Read Critically 3 Record the ideas you find important! Take notes on ideas you find interesting, want to discuss, or have questions about in the readings and reflect on and review these regularly. Taking notes provides a fairly permanent, abbreviated record to return to so that you can continue to process and think about the ideas you have read. Reviewing these notes regularly helps to keep you thinking and helps support your memory of the knowledge you have encountered.

13. Close Reading of a Literary Passage To do a close reading, you choose a specific passage and analyze it in fine detail, as if with a magnifying glass. You then comment on points of style and on your reactions as a reader. Close reading is important because it is the building block for larger analysis. Your thoughts evolve not from someone else's truth about the reading, but from your own observations. The more closely you can observe, the more original and exact your ideas will be. To begin your close reading, ask yourself several specific questions about the passage. The following questions are a starting point for your own thoughts.

14. Close Reading Questions 1 First Impressions What is the first thing you notice about the passage? What is the second thing? Do the two things you noticed complement (help) each other? Or contradict (go against) each other? What mood does the passage create in you? Why?

15. Close Reading Questions 2 Vocabulary and Diction Which words do you notice first? Why? What is important about them? How do the important words relate to one another? Do any words seem strangely used to you? Why? Do any words have double meanings? Do they have other associations? Look up any unfamiliar words!

16. Close Reading Questions 3 Finding Patterns 1 Does an image here remind you of an image elsewhere in the book, story, or poem? Where? What's the connection? How might this image fit into the pattern of the book as a whole? Could this passage or idea be a symbol of the entire work? Could this passage or idea serve as a microcosm--a little picture--of what's taking place in the whole work?

17. Close Reading Questions 4 Finding Patterns 2 What is the sentence rhythm like? Short and choppy? Long and flowing? Does it build on itself or stay at an even pace? Look at the punctuation. Is there anything unusual about it? Is there any repetition within the passage? What is the effect of that repetition? How many types of writing are in the passage? (For example, narration, description, argument, dialogue, rhymed or poetry, etc.) Can you find any inconsistency in the author's thought or subject?

18. Close Reading Questions 5 Point of View How does the passage make us react or think about any characters or events within the narrative? Are there colors, sounds, physical description that appeals to the senses? Does this imagery form a pattern? Why might the author have chosen that color, sound or physical description? Who speaks in the passage? To whom does he or she speak? Does the narrator have a limited or partial point of view?

19. Close Reading Questions 6 Symbolism Are there metaphors? What kinds? Is there one controlling metaphor? If not, how many different metaphors are there, and in what order do they occur? How might that be significant? How might objects represent something else? Do any of the objects, colors, animals, or plants appearing in the passage have traditional connotations or meaning? What about religious or biblical significance? If there are multiple symbols in the work, could we read the entire passage as having allegorical meaning beyond the literal level?