Rhetoric 1302: Section 019 Fall 2001
Instructor: Philip Bacon Email: pjbaconUTD@aol.com
Office: JO 4.118 Office Phone: 972-883-2018
Office Hours: 11:00-12:00 T/Th (or by appointment)
Rhetoric Website: http://lingua.utdallas.edu/rhetoric
The course aims to improve students' critical reading skills, enhance writing skills, and to sharpen logical thinking and critical/analytical thought processes. Students will learn how to construct various kinds of argumentative essays in order to effectively communicate ideas with confidence and clarity. Students will also gain a better understanding of the important role rhetoric plays in our day-to-day, educational, and professional lives. The course will also look at improving research skills and the use of technology in supporting the process of writing.
During the semester, you will write four essays based on readings from the textbook. Each paper will be revised and edited via peer groups and consultations with me. In participating in writing groups with your classmates, you will learn extensive revision skills. By reading and editing your peers' drafts, you will learn to edit your own written work more effectively. You will also keep a Writer's Notebook.
The Aims of Argument: A Rhetoric and Reader (Third Edition). Timothy W. Crusius and Carolyn E. Channel. Mountain View, CA: Mayfield Publishing Co., 1998.
The New Century Handbook. Christine A. Hult and Thomas N. Huckin. Allyn and Bacon, 1999.
A notebook of your choice for Writer's Notebook and a quality pen.
Two formatted discs.
The class is set up to be seminar rather than lecture in approach; as such, class participation is strongly encouraged and, of course, welcomed. In order to enhance this aspect of class, all students should come to class prepared, having read the assigned texts in time.
Attendance is required. After three absences your grade will be lowered one partial grade for each absence from the grade you would otherwise deserve (i.e. from A to A-, B+ to B, etc). Please let me know if there is an emergency and/or illness that will cause you to miss a class. Turn off all pagers and cell phones and do not work on assignments from other classes. Tardiness is very disruptive, so please arrive on time and ready for class.
First essay: 10%
Second essay: 15%
Third essay: 20%
Fourth essay: 25%
Peer Reviews 15%
Class participation/Writer's Notebook: 15%
Your grade for the class will be based on the written work you do in direct response to the readings (such as reading notes, summaries, in-class writing, short themes, peer critiques), on the four essay projects, and in class participation. "Essay Project" means that you will turn in not only the final version of the essay, but all of the progress notes, drafts, and peer critiques that helped you write it. In addition, you may be asked to provide the printouts of secondary sources that you use in research. All papers will be turned in electronically and on paper. For all four essay projects—the essay will make up 80% of the grade, progress notes and documentation 20%.
Every student will be expected to keep an informal Writer's Notebook, in which thoughts, ideas, and answers to reading assignments/questions will be recorded. I suggest a binder with loose-leaf paper.
Essay One. "Arguing to Inquire" First Draft due Sept 18 / Final Draft due Sept 27
This essay will be 2-4 pages and will, by careful questioning and reasoning, examine the various opinions on the subject of immigration, without having to come to any conclusion yourself. Arguing to inquire is about "patient questioning under non-threatening circumstances", as Crusius and Channel put it. Arguing to inquire is the essential way to begin thinking argumentatively, as we need to find out more about a subject before reaching any conviction on any topic. No conviction should be rashly made; this paper will help you learn to think critically about a subject before making any such conviction.
Essays Two, Three or Four must include a visual rhetoric component. If you wish to include a visual rhetoric component in two or all three essays you will receive extra credit.
Essay Two. "Arguing to Convince." First Draft due Oct 9 / Final Draft Due Oct 18
Whereas the first essay doesn't require you to reach a conclusion or an opinion on the subject, this one does. This paper will be 3-4 pages long and will look at the issue of feminism. After a period of inquiry, you will be required to decide what you think on the subject. Your paper will be carefully structured so as to try to get others to accept the conviction you have decided upon.
Essay Three. "Arguing to Persuade." First Draft due Nov 6 / Final Draft Due Nov 15
This paper will be 4-5 pages long and will be on the issue of race and class. This paper will do more than try to convince others that your opinion should be accepted; it will try to construct such an argument as to make people want to act as well. This essay relies on more skill as a writer, for after coming to your own conclusions on the subject, you will attempt to influence your readers' behavior through your well-presented argument. The essay must be in response to any of the essays in Chapter 16, “Race and Class,” of Aims (pages 633-684). Make sure you review Shanks's essay to persuade (pages 142-145). You will learn various writing techniques that will help you stir your readers, and thus, influence their behavior.
Essay Four. "Arguing to Negotiate" First Draft due Nov 27 / Final Draft Due Dec 6
An argumentative essay to mediate/negotiate clearly locating the areas of disagreement between two sides and reaching a solution based on agreed-upon principals. This paper will be 5-6 pages in length and will be on the subject of marriage and family and will be written in response to any of the essays appearing in Chapter 12 (pages 430-502), “Marriage and Family,” in Aims. Arguing to negotiate is the most complex of the four means of argument, as it involves mediation and, as such, interpersonal skills. We must learn to listen closely to all opinions on a subject and try our best to understand the "emotional commitments and underlying values" (Crusius 9) that are necessarily part of a person's conviction. We will learn to be better empathizers, and learn to reach some sort of resolution that makes each side still feel valued. In order to do this, our argument needs to be carefully structured and analytical/critical-thinking skills of the highest level will be required of you.
In addition, for this project you will also write a concise argument for the grade you expect for your overall grade. You should include as supporting evidence any revisions of your final draft of essays one, two and/or three, that you have turned in. If you haven't turned in revisions of your final drafts on essay projects one, two and three, this will be your last opportunity to do so.
*All essays need to be double-spaced in 12-point Times New Roman font, must have MLA citations and a work cited page.
It is very important that you realize the serious nature of copying someone else's ideas or writing. To not give credit to those who first express a thought or idea (in writing or otherwise) is not only unfair but also highly unethical. Please see the UTD policy guidelines to see how seriously plagiarism will be dealt with in this or any other class.
Week One
Tues. Aug 28: Discussion: General introduction to class and an overview of class content and expectations. Introduction to your Writer's Notebook. You will write a short essay in class. Note: the reading assignments listed on each date are what we will be discussing in that class, so be sure you come to class prepared.
Thurs. Aug 30: Read Aims, Appendix B (pp.767-770) and Chapters 1 and 2. Please use your Writer's Notebook to answer the questions in the "Following Through" section(s) in Chapters 1 and 2 (and in all future chapters).
Discussion: Intro to the four main types of argumentative essays. We will write a short, informal expressive essay in class.
Week Two
Tues. Sept 4: Read Aims Chapter 8 pages 191-top of page 204 and The New Century Handbook Chapter 1 We will also have an intro to the use of computers in the classroom.
Thurs. Sept 6: Send your first email to me by this date with personal information (name, degree you are seeking, email address, phone and any concerns, questions, etc.). Read Aims, Chapter 3 and Chapter 8 (pages 204-226) and in your Writers Notebook do one of the four Writing Assignments at the end of Chapter 8. Prepare a Toulmin diagram on Young's "Capital Punishment: Society's Self-Defense". Discussion: Effective and critical reading and introduction to The Toulmin Method; review of Young's essay; visual rhetoric.
Week Three
Tues. Sept 11: Read Aims, Ch 4 (pp37-49); Kennedy's essay (286) and Chavez's essay (308) and complete questions at the end of each essay in your Writer's Notebook. Discussion: Immigration. Also will discuss the first writing assignment "Arguing to Inquire". Writing Assignment One, first draft due Sept. 18.
Thurs. Sept 13: Read Aims Ch 4 (57-66). Read Mills' essay (320) and Silko's essay (331). Read NCH, Ch 2-3. Discussion: Immigration. Also: The art of composition. Some in-class writing time. Peer Group work on initial drafts of Writing Assignment One.
Week Four
Tues. Sept 18: First Draft of first essay due. Peer Group work on first drafts.
Thurs. Sept 20: Read: NCH, Ch 4, Aims Appendix A (pp. 748-766). Discussion: The art of revision.
Week Five
Tues. Sept 25: Peer Group work and consultation time.
Thurs. Sept 27: Final Essay #1 due today. Read: Aims Ch 5 (69-95). Discussion: Arguing to Convince
Week Six
Tues. Oct 2: Read Aims (95-106). Read Langer's essay (341), Rhode's essay (352) and complete questions at the end of each essay in your Writer's Notebook. Discussion: Feminism. Also will discuss developing your brief. Writing assignment two, rough draft due Oct. 9.
Thurs. Oct 4: Bring in one or two sentence thesis for your essay #2. Read Wolf's essay (391), Mitchell's essay (419), the advertisement for women's jeans (427) and complete questions at the end of each essay in your Writer's Notebook. Discussion: Where do you stand? How do we convince others of our conviction? Sign up for conference week seven. Peer Group work on Writing Assignment Two.
Week Seven
Tues. Oct 9: First draft of second essay due. Individual Conferences. Peer Group work on Writing Assignment Two.
Thurs. Oct 11: Individual Conferences. Peer Group work on Writing Assignment Two.
Week Eight
Tues. Oct 16: Read NCH, Chapter 5, and Chapter 7. Discussion: Rewriting; sharpening your thesis, shaping your case. Peer Group work on Writing Assignment Two.
Thurs. Oct 18: Final of second essay due. Discussion: LinguaMoo.
Week Nine
Tues. Oct 23: Read Aims Chapter 6 (pages 107-112). Discussion: Arguing to Persuade. Writing Assignment Three, first draft due Nov 6.
Thurs. Oct 25: See Roberts' photograph (636), read Kapuscincski's essay (637), Lind's essay (642) and complete questions at the end of each essay in your Writer's Notebook. Discussion: Arguing to persuade; analyzing your readers. Race and Class. Peer Group work on Writing Assignment Three.
Week Ten
Tues. Oct 30: Martin Luther King's "Letter from Birmingham Jail" and the pages that follow (on the forms of appeal) in Aims (pp. 113-134). Also read Darling-Hammond's essay (665) and complete questions at the end of Darling-Hammond's essay in your Writer's Notebook. Discussion: Race and Class. We will also look at forms of appeal in an argumentative essay. Peer Group work on Writing Assignment Three.
Thurs. Nov 1: Bring in a sample of a current piece of persuasive writing from any magazine/newspaper and be prepared to talk briefly about it in class. Read Aims Ch 6 (pp134-145), Steele's essay (662), and Williams' essay (674). Discussion: Race and class. Drafting a persuasive essay. Peer Group work on Writing Assignment Three. Sign up for conferences week eleven.
Week Eleven
Tues. Nov 6: First draft of third essay due. Peer Group work on Writing Assignment Three.
Thurs. Nov 8: Individual Conferences. Peer Group work on Writing Assignment Three.
Week Twelve
Tues. Nov 13: Library visit. Read Aims Ch 9. This time will enable you to research information for your final essay. Meet in library at class time.
Thurs. Nov 15: Final draft of third essay due today. Read Aims Ch 7 (146-148) Discussion: Arguing to negotiate, developing a brief. Writing Assignment Four—first draft due Nov. 27.
Week Thirteen
Tues. Nov 20: Read Aims Ch 7 (171-190). Read Skolnik's essay (432), Decter's essay (440) and complete questions at the end of both essays in your Writer's Notebook. Discussion: Marriage and family. Locating areas of disagreement. Developing your paper through careful analysis of all convictions on the subject. Peer Group work on Writing Assignment Four.
Thurs. Nov 22: Happy Thanksgiving.
Week Fourteen
Tues. Nov 27 First draft of fourth essay due. Read Coontz's essay (464), Cheney's cartoon (483), Whitehead's essay (484), and complete questions at the end of both essays and the cartoon in your Writer's Notebook. Discussion: Marriage and family. Structuring your argument. Peer Group work on Writing Assignment Four.
Thurs. Nov 29: Discussion: Becoming better writers, better readers, better thinkers: a lifelong pursuit. Peer Group work on Writing Assignment Four. Sign up for individual conferences.
Week Fifteen
Tues. Dec 4: Individual conferences. Peer Group work on Writing Assignment Four.
Thurs. Dec 6: Individual conferences. Final essay project due. Any revised essays you wish to turn in to improve your grade for the course must be turned in by this date.
Week Sixteen
Dec 8-14: Finals Week.