1.1: Introduction

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Page ID: 124358

Gabriel Winer & Elizabeth Wadell
Berkeley City College & Laney College via ASCCC Open Educational Resources Initiative (OERI)

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What will we learn in this chapter?

You might consider reading and writing as two distinct activities, but both skills are closely related to each other. We need to actively engage with the material to make meaning and to build our critical thinking and reading skills. In this chapter, we will identify our reading strategies and preview a variety of texts. We will engage with texts by developing questions about the reading and annotating texts. We will look for main topics, main ideas, and supporting details and learn about three modes of persuasion.

Why is this important?

In academic writing, we need to support our ideas with evidence. Evidence may come from other texts, our personal life, or other sources such as podcasts and TED talks. We will practice three ways to provide evidence: summarize, paraphrase, and quote. Finally, we will interpret texts by analyzing them.

What theme will this chapter focus on?

In this chapter, we will be looking at immigration in the U.S., particularly the experiences of undocumented immigrants. Many undocumented immigrants make the difficult journey across the U.S. - Mexican border without legal papers or arrive in the U.S. by plane and overstay their visas. What is it like to live in the U.S. without documentation? What are some challenges these members of our communities face? What are some of the misconceptions other Americans have about undocumented immigrants? What can we all do to protect the rights of undocumented immigrants (see Figure 1.1.1 which shows a march for immigrant rights in Los Angeles)?

Figure 1.1.1 shows a march for immigrant rights in Los Angeles, CA.

Woman holding a sign stating "we are all human" at a march for immigrant rights — Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\): "Los Angeles March for Immigrant Rights" by mollyktadams is licensed under CC BY 2.0

Learning objectives

In this chapter, you will learn to

identify reading strategies and pre-read texts.
ask questions and annotate texts.
identify the topic, main idea and supporting details in texts.
identify three methods of persuasion.
summarize, paraphrase, quote, and analyze texts.

Licenses and Attributions: CC Licensed Content: Original

Authored by Marit ter Mate-Martinsen, Santa Barbara City College. License: CC BY NC.

What will we learn in this chapter?

Why is this important?

What theme will this chapter focus on?

Learning objectives

CC Licensed Content: Original