English 101 Section B24. Writing About Our World
What is the role of reading and writing in a world that has film and television, iPods and YouTube? We will use this question to guide us through this intensive introduction to the reading and writing skills necessary for critical argumentation at the college level. We will read a series of contemporary essays that explore and debate many of the most pressing cultural and political topics of our modern world. The readings will ask us to consider a wide range of issues, including the influence of environment on our personal choices, the politics of being a “global citizen,” the role of diversity in higher education, and the meaning of tradition and community for establishing how we define ourselves. Each of these investigations will be linked by our attention to the ways that critical thinking allows us to understand and respond to such issues in writing. The course will end by examining Jon Krakauer’s Into the Wild as a reflection on how reading, writing, and education might succeed, or go awry.
