Goals and Objectives

III. GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

READING and THINKING

Overall Goal

You will develop a critical approach to reading and thinking by questioning the texts you read and the ideas they convey. Read carefully and thoughtfully, mark key passages, note images, and react to ideas that resonate with you. Careful reading in many ways is the same as careful thinking. Both, in turn, lead to better oral communication. Just as you should not think over an issue only once, you must often reread and reflect at great length upon the texts and issues you will encounter in Heritage. Even though reading is generally an individual effort, be sure to use class discussions to share and expand your thoughts in relations to other in the class.

Western Heritage I

Western Heritage II

1) You will be able to use pre-reading strategies for becoming an active reader:
  • Recognize the structure and context of a text (historical and literary)
  • Understand the purpose of reading a text
1) You will continue to use pre-reading strategies for becoming an active reader.
Review:
  • Recognize the structure and context of a text (historical, literary, social, and political)
  • Understand the purpose of reading a text
2) You will be able to apply strategies to transform and process key textual ideas into your own words.
  • Annotating
  • Questioning
  • Note taking
  • Outlining
  • Summarizing
2) You will continue to apply strategies to transform and process key textual ideas into your own words.
Review:
  • Annotating
  • Questioning
  • Note taking
  • Outlining
  • Summarizing
3) You will be able to identify areas in which you have expanded and challenged your knowledge and experience as a result of reading a text. 3) You will be able to identify areas in which you have expanded and challenged your knowledge and experience through encounters with political and social thinkers.
4) You will be able to identify similarities and differences between historical, social, and intellectual writings.
5) You will be able to explain and support your interpretation of a text.

WRITING and COMMUNICATION

Overall Goal

You will learn that good writing is a process. You will use the many informal written assignments of Heritage in preparation for composing two longer and more formal analytical essays. You will write one or more revisions of these papers, which will enable you to continue doing what you are doing well and learn how to change your draft in a way that improves your writing, discovering and practicing along the way different methods of gathering, using, and assembling evidence in support of an argument.

Beyond formal and informal writing assignments, class discussions are of central importance to forging the community of your Heritage class-one that is respectful of all ideas-and to honing your ability to communicate your ideas about texts clearly and effectively. In addition to class discussion, activities such as small-group interactions and oral presentations can provide opportunities for practicing how to best present your ideas to the rest of the class.

Western Heritage I

Western Heritage II

1) You will be able to write analytical essays with a clear thesis and logical arguments. You will be able to organize your points and support your ideas. 1) You will be able to write text-based analytical essays that support a position by crafting a strong thesis and clear arguments. You will be able to organize your points logically and to compare and contrast ideas.
2) You will learn to express and defend positions in writing and class discussions. 2) You will be able to recognize when you have sufficient support for a position and continue to express and defend positions in writing and class discussions.
3) You will be able to demonstrate competence in using formal language conventions in all your writing (grammar, syntax, punctuation, and capitalization). You will learn the fundamentals of editing, revision and proofreading. You will learn what plagiarism is and how to avoid it. 3) You will be able to demonstrate competence in using formal language conventions in all your writing (grammar, syntax, punctuation, and capitalization). You will learn the fundamentals of editing, revision and proofreading. You will learn what plagiarism is and how to avoid it.
4) You will learn what gives life to a conversation in general and demonstrate oral communication skills through such activities as class discussions and small-group interactions. 4) You will be able to write an argumentative or persuasive essay in which opposing views are anticipated and addressed.
5) You will learn what gives life to a conversation in general and demonstrate oral communication skills through such activities as class discussions, small-group interactions, and oral presentations.

CONTENT

Overall Goal

You will use a critical approach to reading, writing, and discussing key texts from the West that are chosen to reflect the variety of strands that together, over time, have come to shape the constellation of Western thought. These ideas and modes of thinking are a world in which all those who read and think participate every day, and the seminars of Western Heritage seek to engage fully in this process-the 'Great Conversation'. In order to define one smaller aspect of this larger tradition that will be probed in Western Heritage I and II, texts for the year are chosen to highlight a particular theme.

Western Heritage I

Western Heritage II

1) You will learn to identify the patterns of assumptions, ideas, values and practices of the West by examining works in the arts; the humanities including philosophy, literature, spirituality and history; in the social sciences including political and economic thought; and in the natural sciences. 1) You will learn to identify the patterns of assumptions, ideas, values, and practices of the West by examining works in the arts; the humanities including philosophy, literature, spirituality, and history; in the social sciences including political and economic thought; and in the natural sciences.
2) You will learn to recognize the assumptions on which Western communities are based, as well as divergent views within the Western tradition. 2) You will learn to recognize the assumptions on which Western communities are based, as well as differences within Western culture.
3) You will strive to understand Western culture based on its own frame of reference and will learn to appreciate the interdependence of different aspects of Western thought.