Instructor: L. Brown

Email: Brownl1@lamarpa.edu

Phone: 409-984-6186

Office Location and Hours: Any Concerns we can discuss at the beginning of the class.

Additional Contact Information:

 Integration of critical reading and academic writing skills. Successful completion of this course (C or better) allows student to move to the College level/Co-Requisite course in the following semester /part of term.

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Textbook Purchasing Statement: A student attending Lamar State College Port Arthur is not under any obligation to purchase a textbook from the college-affiliated bookstore. The same textbook may also be available from an independent retailer, including an online retailer.

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• Locate explicit textual information, draw complex inferences, and describe, analyze, and evaluate the information within and across multiple texts of varying lengths.
• Comprehend and use vocabulary effectively in oral communication, reading, and writing.
• Identify and analyze the audience, purpose, and message across a variety of texts.
• Describe and apply insights gained from reading and writing a variety of texts. Compose a variety of texts that demonstrate reading comprehension, clear focus, logical development of ideas, and use of appropriate language that advance the writer’s purpose.
• Determine and use effective approaches and rhetorical strategies for given reading and writing situations. Generate ideas and gather information relevant to the topic and purpose, incorporating the ideas and words of other writers in student writing using established strategies.
• Evaluate relevance and quality of ideas and information in recognizing, formulating, and developing a claim.
• Develop and use effective reading and revision strategies to strengthen the writer’s ability to compose college-level writing assignments.
• Recognize and apply the conventions of standard English in reading and writing.

• Communication skills: Students will demonstrate effective written, oral and/or visual communication.
• Critical Thinking Skills: Students will engage in creative and/or innovative thinking, and/or inquiry, analysis, evaluation, synthesis of information, organizing concepts and constructing solutions.
• Personal Responsibility: Students will demonstrate the ability to connect choices, actions and consequences to ethical decision-making.

WEEK 1 – Introduction to College Reading & Writing

Focus: Course expectations, diagnostic reading/writing Activities:

• Diagnostic reading passage + short response
• Vocabulary baseline assessment Assignment:

WEEK 2 – Locating Explicit Information

Focus: Literal comprehension Activity: Students read a short instructor‑created passage and answer explicit‑information questions. Assignment: Create 5 explicit‑information questions about a provided text.

WEEK 3 – Drawing Inferences

Focus: Implied meaning, logical conclusions Activity: Inference practice using instructor‑created scenarios. Assignment: Write 1 paragraph explaining an inference drawn from a text.

WEEK 4 – Vocabulary in Context

Focus: Using context clues, connotation, academic vocabulary Activity: Vocabulary chart: word, definition, synonym, sentence. Assignment: Identify 10 unfamiliar words from readings and define them using context clues.

WEEK 5 – Audience, Purpose, Message

Focus: Rhetorical awareness Activity: Analyze 3 short texts (informational, persuasive, narrative). Assignment: Write a paragraph identifying audience, purpose, and message for each.

WEEK 6 – Summarizing & Paraphrasing

Focus: Accurate restatement Activity: Summarize a 3‑paragraph instructor text. Assignment: Paraphrase 5 sentences

WEEK 7 and 8 – Generating Ideas & Gathering Information

Focus: Brainstorming, questioning, source evaluation Activity: Idea‑mapping for an upcoming essay. 

WEEK 9 – Claims, Evidence, and Evaluation

Focus: Evaluating relevance and quality Activity: Students evaluate 3 pieces of evidence for strength. Assignment: Write a claim and support it with 3 evaluated pieces of evidence.

WEEK 10 – Rhetorical Strategies

Focus: Compare/contrast, cause/effect, definition, example Activity: Identify strategies in short texts. Assignment: Write a paragraph using one rhetorical strategy.

WEEK 11 – Drafting Essays

Focus: Thesis, topic sentences, organization Activity: Essay outline workshop. Assignment: Draft a 2‑page essay.

WEEK 12 – Grammar & Standard English

Focus: Sentence structure, punctuation, common errors Activity: Grammar correction worksheet. Assignment: Correct 10 sentences.

WEEK 13 – Multi‑Text Analysis

Focus: Compare themes, evaluate claims across texts Activity: Read two instructor‑created texts and compare messages. Assignment: Write a 1‑page comparison.

WEEK 14-15 - Overview assignments and Final Review.

WEEK 16 - Final Exam

All assignments and exams determines your final grade.

December 9, 2026 @ 5:30pm

• 495-550 = A

• 440-494 = B

• 385-439= C

• 330-384 = D

• 0-329 = F

10 assignments (Total 100pts)

4- exams including the final exam (Total 400pts)

2- Pop Quizzes/Assignments (25pts each)

Total 550 points

Test = 72.7% 

Quizzes = 9.1%

Assignments = 18.2%

• Respect yourself and your classmates.
• Most assignments are class assignments and are due at the end of each assigned class period.
• Any take home assignments are due the following class period. 
• No late assignments are accepted. 
• There are no make up exams without prior notification of absence. 
• All group members must participate in group assignments. Group members are randomly selected.
• Students should not leave class without permission.

Research has shown a cause and effect relationship between attendance and college success. A student with three or more absence may be dropped from the class.

• Please follow all location rules. 
• Late assignments are not accepted
• No exam make-up with proper notification and excuse 
• All assignments must be written or typed on clean paper, ex: no crumbled or reused paper.

Be sure to check your campus email and Course Homepage using MyLSCPA campus web portal. You can also access your grades, transcripts, academic advisors, degree progress, and other services through MyLSCPA.

Academic honesty is expected from all students, and dishonesty in any form will not be tolerated. Please consult the LSCPA policies (Academic Dishonesty section in the Student Handbook) for consequences of academic dishonesty.

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a federal anti-discrimination statute that provides comprehensive civil rights for persons with disabilities. Among other things, this legislation requires that all students with disabilities be guaranteed a learning environment that provides for reasonable accommodation of their disabilities. If you believe you have a disability requiring an accommodation, please contact the Accessibility Services Coordinator, Room 119, in the Ruby Fuller Building. The phone number is (409) 984-6241.

No food or tobacco products are allowed in the classroom. Only students enrolled in the course are allowed in the classroom, except by special instructor permission. Use of electronic devices is prohibited.

This syllabus is part of LSCPA's efforts to comply with Texas House Bill 2504.

As per Texas law and LSCPA policy, all LSCPA employees, including faculty, are required to report allegations or disclosures of child abuse or neglect to the designated authorities, which may include a local or state law enforcement agency or the Texas Department of Family Protective Services. For more information about mandatory reporting requirements, see LSCPA's Policy and Procedure Manual.

LSCPA is committed to establishing and maintaining an environment that is free from all forms of sex discrimination, including sexual harassment, sexual violence, and other forms of sexual misconduct. All LSCPA employees, including faculty, have the responsibility to report disclosures of sexual misconduct, including sexual harassment, sexual assault (including rape and acquaintance rape), domestic violence, dating violence, relationship violence, or stalking, to LSCPA's Title IX Coordinator, whose role is to coordinate the college's response to sexual misconduct. For more information about Title IX protections, faculty reporting responsibilities, options for confidential reporting, and the resources available for support visit LSCPA's Title IX website.

For more information about the Clery Act and crime reporting, see the Annual Security & Fire Safety Report and the Campus Security website.

If you have a grievance, complaint, or concern about this course that has not been resolved through discussion with the Instructor, please consult the Department Chair.