Rhetoric 1302 – 007, 1302-010

Fall 2003

Rita Boudard

University of Texas at Dallas

School of Arts & Humanities

DAYS/TIME: MWF 11-11:50 a.m., MWF 12-12:50

LOCATION: JO 4.122

Office: JO 4.118

Office Hours: W 1:00- 3:00

Phone: 972-883-2018

Email: ritaboudard5@msn.com

UTD Rhetoric Website: http://lingua.utdallas.edu/rhetoric

Contains links to course syllabus, reference and research resources, LRO, and LinguaMoo

Learning Record Online (LRO): http://lro.cwrl.utexas.edu

Course Description

This course focuses on critical thinking by using an integrated approach to writing that teaches various rhetorical strategies for reading and constructing arguments, both written and visual. You will learn to read texts critically according to key components in argumentative discourse (i.e., claims, grounds, explicit and implicit assumptions, fallacies, etc.) and to recognize the different purposes of argument (i.e., to inquire, to convince, to persuade, to negotiate). You will write and revise three to four papers based on issues and controversies raised in the various texts read during the semester. The assignments will give you extensive practice in reading critically and writing according to the rhetorical conventions of an argumentative essay.

Learning Record Online

Student work will be collected in an electronic portfolio called the “Learning Record Online” (LRO) throughout the semester. Use of online technology will enhance the level of feedback you receive, as well as give you experience in the kinds of collaborative work that many organizations use routinely. Online interaction and argumentative writing will comprise a large part of the evaluation in the course. Other assignments will include interviews, observations, and notes, all of which will be entered into your LRO. The LRO portfolio is your most important argument in the course as it shows the sum evidence of your learning, including your own observations and analysis of your learning. You will belong to a “work group” for various collaborative activities (i.e., discussion of readings, peer critiques), and you will participate in mid-term and semester-end moderation readings of your LRO portfolio for feedback from your peers. Because learning to read critically and write responsively entails mastery of a process, your work will undergo extensive revisions in response to peer readings and collaboration as well as conferencing with your instructor.

Required Texts & Supplies

The Aims of Argument: A Rhetoric and Reader by Timothy Crusius and Carolyn Channell, fourth edition (not the “brief” edition), 2002.

Penguin Brief Handbook by Lester Faigley, brief edition, 2002.

Also bring a floppy disk (PC-formatted if you use a PC, Mac-formatted if you use a Mac). The Rhetoric classroom uses Macintosh computers that can read either format. Most documents will be produced in Microsoft Word. Whether you use MS Word outside of the classroom or not, it is best to save your files as rich text format (RTF) to insure compatibility between the word processing program you use and the one in your classroom.

Attendance Policy

Because participation is vital to successful completion of Rhetoric 1302, you should attend every class. If you must be absent, check with your classmates or with me for any work you missed that can be made up. Much of the work is done collaboratively in class. Alternative assignments are generally not given, nor can the instructor “re-teach” missed classes for individual students. If you miss more than three classes, your grade will be negatively affected and/or you may be encouraged to drop the class. Two tardies will count as one absence. Chronic tardiness is unacceptable, as are coming to class unprepared, doing work that is not for this course during class, sleeping in class, or using the computers or other personal electronic devices for personal messaging, research, or entertainment. Please turn off cellular/mobile phones, pagers, and other personal electronic devices during class.

Office Hours

Please note my regular office hours above. You also can arrange to see me at other times that are mutually convenient. Office hours belong to you just as much as our class time. Don’t hesitate to take advantage of my availability and the help I am ready to offer. If you need to contact me outside of classtime or office hours, it is best to communicate with me by email ritaboudard5@msn.com rather than the office phone.

Grading Policy

This class offers you an approach to learning that may be different from your past experiences. Because the course is concerned with your development as a critical reader and writer, the grading strategy will track and monitor that development. Your work will be collected in an electronic portfolio called the Learning Record Online (LRO). Your assignments will not receive individual grades, but will receive individual attention from me and your classmates. Your mid-term and final grades will be based on your portfolio of written observations and your work samples, including collaborative work and your three major essays, as well as completion of each component of your LRO. In the final step to completing your LRO, you will argue for your grade by summarizing your learning and estimating the grade that the evidence of your learning supports. In other words, you will directly apply what you learn in this course, argumentative writing, by arguing for your own grade. However, each component of the LRO is vital to a quality body of work: your attendance, participation, promptness, level of writing. effective arguments, creativity, collaboration, sound rhetorical skills, competent use of technology—all of these things and more contribute to an outstanding portfolio.

Your goal is to demonstrate your development toward mastery of five course strands (rhetoric, research, technology, collaboration, and critical thinking) and development across five dimensions of learning (confidence and independence, skills and strategies, knowledge and understanding, use of prior and emerging experience, and reflectiveness). These goals will be discussed throughout the course. Keep in mind that although we do give + and – grades at UTD, the general criteria for grading your Learning Record is still based on the A-F scale.

The following grade criteria describe very general indicators that both you and your instructor may take into consideration when assessing your work and progress in the course. Your estimation of your mid-term and final grades should be more detailed and specific and may include a ‘+’ or ‘–‘ if your work tilts above or below the central grade for which you argue. But the final interpretation and assessment of your grade remains the responsibility of your teacher.

A: Represents outstanding participation in all course activities (including attendance and promptness); all assigned work completed on time, with very high quality in all work produced for the course. Evidence of significant and sustained development across the five dimensions of learning and five course strands.

B: Represents excellent participation in all course activities (including attendance and promptness); all assigned work completed on time, with consistently high quality in course work. Evidence of marked and above average development across the five dimensions of learning and five course strands.

C: Represents good (but average) participation in all course activities; all assigned work completed, with generally good quality overall in course work. Evidence of some development across the five dimensions of learning and five course strands.

D: Represents uneven participation in course activities; some gaps in assigned work completed, with inconsistent quality in course work. Evidence of development across the five dimensions of learning and five course strands is partial or unclear.

F: Represents minimal participation in course activities; serious gaps in assigned work completed, or very low quality in course work. Evidence of development is not available.

UTD Grading scale (http://www.utdallas.edu/student/catalog/undergrad02/progress.html#Grading%20Scale)

Plagiarism Policy

Plagiarism is the representation of another person’s work as your own, whether you mean to or not. For example, copying or paraphrasing passages from another writer’s work without acknowledging that you’ve done so is plagiarism. Allowing another writer to write any part of your essay is plagiarism. Copying or purchasing a paper from any source is plagiarism.

Plagiarism is a serious offense. The possible consequences range from failing the assignment to failing the course, or worse. Each incident of plagiarism at UTD must be reported to the administration. If you are not sure how to properly cite a quoted or paraphrased source, or if you need help with the format of a citation, check with the New Century Handbook and/or with your teacher. Although you can (and, in fact, should) seek help and advice from friends, classmates, tutors, and others, be sure that your written work is your own.

See the Undergraduate Catalog for information about the consequences of Scholastic Dishonesty, or view the policy here (which is also a link on the Rhetoric Program website):

http://www.utdallas.edu/student/slife/dishonesty.html.

Major Assignments

First Essay: An essay to convince or persuade on the topic of race and class. Using the assigned readings in Aims and your own research, make an argument using multiple reasons supported by evidence to convince your audience to accept your argument or to persuade your audience to perform a specific action based on the principles of your argument.

First draft due: September 22

Final draft due: September 29

Second Essay: An integrated textual and visual essay that examines and analyzes the argument of a visual image in terms of its rhetorical elements: composition, presentation, intended audience, and effect. This essay may be created and archived in Lingua MOO or the WWW, or it may be a traditional Word document that simply displays the image(s) in the body of your essay. Your image may come from the visuals in Aims, other publications, Internet, or other media with permission for links.

First draft due: October 10

Final draft due: October 17

Third Essay: An essay to resolve a conflict by addressing the needs of opposing sides. Using readings from Chapter 10 “Casebook on 9/11” in Aims and your own research, make an argument that mediates and offers a possibility for consensus that can move the opposing views to new ground.

Brief for essay due: November 7

First draft due: November 12

Second draft due: November 19

Final draft due: November 26

Learning Record Online: This is an online resource for managing and documenting the work and learning you do in this class. Various assignments will be due throughout the semester, and all observations, drafts, and essays must be included in the LRO on the date due.

Parts A.1 and A.2 are due: September 3

Parts B.1 and C.1 are due: October 13

Parts B.2 and C.2 are due: December 1

Remember: all drafts and final drafts must be recorded online in your LRO and turned in to me in hard copy (using MLA format and citation and including a Works Cited page) on the dates they are due.

Syllabus Itinerary (subject to change)

[Assignments are due by the next class period unless noted otherwise]

Fri 8/22: In-class: Intro to course and Rhetoric program website

Assignments: Read Aims Chs 1-2; Send email to me by Monday, 8/25

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Mon 8/25: In-class: Intro to LRO and keeping a notebook; Discussion of Aims Chs 1-2

Assignments: Record an observation in your LRO; Read Ch 3 in Aims; Familiarize yourself with the Penguin Handbook; Complete LRO parts A.1 and A.2 by 9/3

Wed 8/27 In-class: Discussion of Ch 3 on Toulmin method and Penguin Handbook and its resources

Assignments: Do Toulmin analysis of Amber Young’s “Capital Punishment” (p 63);

Fri 8/29: In-class: Groups workshop on Toulmin diagrams of Young’s essay

Assignments: Record an observation on this exercise in your LRO; Read Aims Ch 6 and Introduction to Ch 16, “Race and Class: Examining Social Inequality”, Bruce Robert’s photograph, and Ryszard Kapuscinski’s “Second Thoughts about America’s Racial Paradise” (Aims 840-849).

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Mon 9/1: LABOR DAY HOLIDAY

Wed 9/3: In-class: DUE: LRO parts A.1 and A.2; Discussion of Aims Ch 6, Robert’s photograph, and Kapuscinski essay.

Assignments: Record an observation in your LRO; Read Michael Lind’s “The Beige and the Black” and Abigail and Stephan Thernstrom’s “BlackProgress: How Far We’ve Come-And How Far We Have to Go” (Aims 850-62)

Fri 9/5: In-class: Groups workshop on Questions for Discussion following Lind and Thernstrom essays.

Assignments: Record an observation in your LRO; Read Ramey photograph, Darling-Hammond’s “Unequal Opportunity: Race and Education,” and Shelby Steele’s “The Recoloring of Campus Life” (Aims 863-883)

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Mon 9/8: In-class: Discussion of Ramey photograph, Darling-Hammond, and Steele essays.

Assignments: Record an observation in your LRO; Read Aims Ch 7 on Arguing to Convince

Wed 9/10: In-class: Discussion of Aims Ch 7

Assignments: Read Aims Ch 8 on Arguing to Persuade, especially a close reading of Martin Luther King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail”

Fri 9/12: In-class: Discussion of Aims Ch 8 and King’s “Letter”

Assignments: Read Aims Ch 5 on Writing Research-based Arguments; Decide on your essay topic and create a working rhetorical prospectus in your Notebook (see Aims p 21) and paste into your LRO as work sample by 9/15

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Mon 9/15: In-class: Wrap-up discussion of Ch 8 and 16; Discussion of specific forms of appeal, constructing your audience, and creating briefs

Assignments: Record an observation in your LRO; Create a brief for your essay to convince/persuade (see Aims p 220-242) and bring to class on 9/19

Wed 9/17: Library Tour

Assignments: Record an observation in your LRO; Read Penguin Handbook on MLA format and how to cite and create a works cited page; read student samples of LRO Parts B.1 (Analysis) and C.1 (Evaluation) in LRO;

Fri 9/19: In-class: Paired discussions of briefs; Class discussion of LRO parts B.1 and C.1; Grammar, format, and mechanics discussion (bring Penguin Handbook)

Assignment: Work on draft of essay #1, due 9/22

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Mon 9/22: In-class: First draft of essay #1 due today. Peer reviews.

Assignments: Record an observation in your LRO

Wed 9/24: In-class: Teacher conference and in-class writing.

Assignments: Continue work on essay # 1

Fri 9/26: In-class: Teacher conference and writing on essay #1 revisions

Assignments: Continue work on final draft of essay # 1

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Mon 9/29: Final draft of Essay #1 due; In-class: Discussion on King’s letter from Birmingham Jail in Ch 8.

Assignments: Complete reading Ch 8 in Aims, plus bring a cartoon to thenext class; Record an observation in your LRO

Wed 10/1: In-class: Discuss your editorial cartoon and explain its argumentative tactics

Assignments: Research on image to use for Visual Rhetoric Essay #2; Look over photos in Aims, Casebook on 9/11 (pp 347-353) and be prepared to discuss photos as persuasion using emotional appeal. Read Ch 4 (pp 69- 86)

Fri 10/3: In-class: Discuss photos in 9/11 Casebook; discuss copyright policies on the use of images.

Assignments: Record an observation in your LRO; decide on image for your essay #2 and bring it to class on Mon, 10/6 [If you are linking to the image elsewhere on the Internet, BE SURE TO NOTE EXACT SOURCE OF IMAGE and OBTAIN PERMISSION TO LINK TO IT IF IT IS NOT ON A PUBLIC SITE]. Complete Ch 4

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Mon 10/6: In-class: Discuss images in Ch 4;

Assignments: Continue reading Ch 4 (pp 86-105) Find image and bring to next class. Record observation in LRO.

Wed 10/8: In-class: Discuss essays in Ch 4 by Barkley and Williams

Assignments: Follow the three writing assignments in Ch 4. Record an Observation in your LRO. Make decision on final image for second essay; Read Words and Images Ch 2 from the Penguin Handbook; Prepare for individual conference with instructor

Fri 10/10 In-class: First draft of visual essay due today; Discuss writing assignments in Ch 4; Individual conference with instructor

Assignments: Complete parts B.1 and C.1 of LRO due Mon, 10/13

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Mon 10/13: In-class: Parts B.1 and C.1 of LRO due today. Moderation readings.

Assignments: Record an Observation about moderation readings in your LRO;

Wed 10/15: In-class:; Individual conference on first draft

Assignments: Continue working on second essay

Fri 10/17: In-class: Final draft of Visual essay due (make sure LRO link to images are permissible and accurate;

Assignments: Read Ch 9 “Resolving Conflict: Arguing to Negotiate and Mediate”

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Mon 10/20: In-class: Discussion of Ch 9 (293-320)

Assignments: Record an Observation in your LRO; Complete Follow Through #1 at top of p 319 in Aims by writing a short 1-page response and enter it as a Work Sample in your LRO by 10/22

Wed 10/22: In-class: Discussion of Ch 9 (320-339)

Assignments: Read Part 1 of Aims Ch 10 (pp 345-361, Getting Oriented and Recalling the Attack)

Fri 10/24: In-class: Discussion of Part I of Aims Ch 10

Assignments: Read first half of Part II of Aims Ch 10 (361-393)

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Mon 10/27: In-class: Discuss Aims Ch 10 pp 361-393

Assignments: Read last half of Part II of Aims Ch 10 (393-422)

Wed 10/29: Discussion of Aims Ch 10 pp 393-422

Assignments: Record an Observation in your LRO; Read first half of Part III of Aims Ch 10 (pp 423-448)

Fri 10/31: In-class: Discussion of Aims Ch 10 pp 423-448)

Assignments: Read last half of Aims Part III of Ch 10 (pp 448-465); Choose topic from 9/11 Casebook and create a working rhetorical prospectus for your mediatory essay #3 in your Notebook

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Mon 11/3: In-class: Discussion of Aims Ch 10 pp 448-465

Assignments: Record an Observation in your LRO; Write a brief for your essay #3 and enter it as a Work Sample in your LRO by Friday, 11/7

Wed 11/5: In-class: Complete discussions of Ch 10; Individual conference on brief #3

Assignments: Finish Brief for essay #3 due in LRO on 11/7

Fri 11/7: In-class: Brief for Essay #3 due in LRO; Review Ch 9 on Arguing to Mediate or Negotiate; Review Ch 5 on researching arguments and evaluating sources

Assignments: Work on first draft of essay #3 due Wed 11/12 in LRO (visual component is allowed, but not required)

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Mon 11/10: In-class: Writing in class on first draft of essay #3

Assignments: Continue working on first draft; bring hard copy of first draft to class on Wed 11/12

Wed 11/12: In-class: First draft of essay #3 due in LRO; Peer reviews of first draft of essay #3

Assignments: Continue working on essay #3 using peer feedback

Fri 11/14: In-class writing of revisions of first draft of essay #3

Assignments: Continue working on essay #3

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Mon 11/17: In-class: Discussion of revision techniques and elevating style (bring Penguin Handbook); In-class writing on essay #3

Assignments: Continue work on essay #3

Wed 11/19: In-class: Second draft of essay #3 due in LRO; in class writing.

Assignments: prepare for conference with instructor

Fri 11/21: In-class: Conference with instructor

Assignments: Work on revisions of 2nd draft of essay #3

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Mon 11/24: In-class: Conference with instructor

Assignments: Complete final draft of essay #3 in LRO for 11/26

Wed 11/26: In-class: Final draft of essay #3 due in LRO; student evaluations of course

Assignments: Complete LRO parts B.2 and C.2 due Monday 12/1

Fri 11/28: Thanksgiving Holiday

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Mon 12/1: LRO parts B.2 and C.2 due today. Moderation readings.

(possible continuation of moderation readings in lieu of final exam).