ENGL 354: Modern Rhetorical Theory, Fall 2015

Course Information

Course

  • Number: ENGL 354
  • Title: Modern Rhetorical Theory
  • Term: Fall 2015

Course Description

Modern Rhetorical Theory is designed to introduce students to the development of rhetoric as a concept, discipline, and series of practices in the 20th and into the 21st centuries. The class also introduces students to practices of criticism and thinking about, with, and through academic conversations as scholars.

Students will read a wide range of works dealing with topics of linguistic persuasion. Additionally, students will write in a number of media and genres in response to these, and other, readings.

Assignments

Assignments

These are the assignments that will make up your grade in this class.

Assignment Values

Assignment Due Date Value
Reading Journal Every Friday 15%
Walter Ong Project 2015-10-30 25%
Prospectus 2015-11-09 20%
Pitch Presentation 11-18 & 11-23 10%
Final Paper 2015-12-10 30%

Assignment Descriptions

Reading Journal

Each Friday (starting on the second Friday of class), you will post an at least 700 word commentary on one reading from the previous week to your online reading journal (in eCampus, under “Content”). In this entry, you will briefly summarize the argument of the piece on which you are commenting before launching into a discussion of what you see as significant about this argument, how it connects to other things you have read in class, how you might use this theory in your own writing, or apply the argument about persuasion to another example. In these entries, you are showing me that you understand the reading (or that you understand why you do not understand the reading) and that you have thought significantly (or struggled mightily) with the text.

These journal entries do not so much document that you have read but that you have thought about what you have read.

For the week of the pitch presentations, please write your entry about one of your classmates’ presentations.

Walter Ong Project

Walter Ong identifies three modes of communication in Orality & Literacy: the oral, the written, and the then-emergent digital. For this assignment, I want you to make an object that responds to and documents some aspect of your life (at A&M, in Texas, online, etc.) using a combination of these three methodologies. How would you incorporate Ong’s ideas of the oral? the written? the digital? into an account of a place or a phenomenon or a thing with which you are familiar.

Prospectus

In anticipation of your final project, you will write a one page, single-spaced prospectus for your final paper. This prospectus will outline the basics of your argument, cover the major points you will hit in reaching it, and the sources you will be working with.

Grading for this project will be based on your effectiveness in matching the genre of the project proposal / prospectus, but I will be providing you with feedback on the content of the proposed paper.

Pitch Presentation

Based on feedback on your prospectus, you will assemble a presentation of a maximum of seven minutes (3 minutes of talking, 4 minutes of discussion) to present to your classmates during week 12 of the course. Your classmates will be able to provide you with feedback on your project as well as suggest hints for further thinking as you develop your argument.

Final Paper

For the final paper, pick some aspect of the history of rhetoric during the period of the class that you would like to know more about. Think about something, specifically, that you found controversial or open to resolution in the course readings. For your final paper, write a 10 page analysis of the state of this issue, and argue for a position you think resolves the issue or introduces some new dimension to consider.

This paper will require you to conduct research outside of the material we have read for class.

See the policies page for more information about grading scale and standards.

Books

Books

You only have to buy one book for this class, but the electronic texts we will be reading in place of print books will be available in a number of places.

Book to Buy

eText

  • Most texts

Policies

Course Policies

Any course syllabus is a contract between teacher and student. By continuing in this class, you are agreeing to be bound by the policies laid out on this page. Failure to read or understand these policies does not excuse you from being governed by them.

You Are Responsible For Your Success

It is not my job to remind you to submit late work, provide documentation for absences you believe are eligible to be excused, or apprise you of all course material or announcements you may have missed during any absence. It is your responsibility to:

  • keep track of any missing work or late work that you have,
  • to inform me of A&M-approved reasons to grant you an excused absence,
  • to learn of any course announcements or changes to the class schedule that you might have missed
  • to understand the material contained in this syllabus.

Ask fellow students or attend office hours if you need assistance in any of these respects. Furthermore, understand that late work is graded at my convenience.

Email

I am available to answer email from 9:00am until 5:00pm Monday through Friday. Emails arriving outside of that time will be answered at my earliest convenience, but do not count on a quick answer to emails sent late at night or on the weekends.

Grading

Per university policy, I cannot discuss grades via email. Please drop by my office hours if you would like to discuss your grade on an assignment.

Grade Values

  • A 90-100
  • B 80-89
  • C 70-79
  • D 60-69
  • F 59 or less

Feedback and Assignment Points

Before each assignment, I will provide you with a copy of my grading rubric for the assignment to give you a sense of what I will be targeting in each assignment. This sheet will break down each component of your grade and add up to 100 points. I will read each assignment, mark up a rubric, and provide a few paragraphs of comments on your assignment.

These points will be weighted according to the point breakdown described on the Assignments page, which will determine your overall final grade.

Absence / Tardiness

Students are expected to attend all classes. Failure to do so, as part of a larger pattern of chronic tardiness and lateness, will result in consequences for your final grade.

Tardiness is defined as an arrival in class after the first five minutes of class. This behavior, while sometimes unavoidable, is disruptive. If you are running late, please do your best to enter the classroom quietly and find the first and most easily accessible seat available.

Excused Absences

Student Rule 7 covers the cases in which absences will be excused and in which late work will be tolerated. The following conditions will be excused:

  • Participation in an activity appearing on the university authorized activity list. (see List of Authorized and Sponsored Activities)
  • Death or major illness in a student’s immediate family. Immediate family may include: mother, father, sister, brother, grandparents, spouse, child, spouse’s child, spouse’s parents, spouse’s grandparents, stepmother, step-father, step-sister, step-brother, step-grandparents, grandchild, step-grandchild, legal guardian, and others as deemed appropriate by faculty member or student’s academic Dean or designee.
  • Illness of a dependent family member.
  • Participation in legal proceedings or administrative procedures that require a student’s presence.
  • Religious holy day. (See Appendix IV.)
  • Injury or Illness that is too severe or contagious for the student to attend class.
  • Required participation in military duties.
  • Mandatory admission interviews for professional or graduate school which cannot be rescheduled.
  • Mandatory participation as a student-athlete in NCAA-sanctioned competition.
  • In accordance with Title IX of the Educational Amendments of 1972, Texas A&M University shall treat pregnancy (childbirth, false pregnancy, termination of pregnancy and recovery therefrom) and related conditions as a justification for an excused absence for so long a period of time as is deemed medically necessary by the student’s physician. Requests for excused absence related to pregnancy should be directed to the instructor; questions about Title IX should be directed to the University Title IX Coordinator.

Note About Excused Absences

In the event of a chronic illness or other sudden condition that will result in significant time away from class, please inform of the situation before you return to class, so that we can work out how to handle the situation before it becomes an issue.

Technology

In 2015, it is unreasonable to accept “my computer died” as an excuse for late work. If you are working on assignments on a computer, please back up your work offsite. Sites such as Dropbox and Google Drive provide space for storing copies of your work; even a USB drive can be enough. Save multiple times throughout each work session to both your backup and your computer’s copy. As a rule, I hold you accountable for making sure your technology is working correctly.

Late Work

Under Student Rule 7.4, I am under “under no obligation to provide an opportunity for the student to make up work missed because of an unexcused absence.” As such, late assignments will not be graded. However, if you are having problems with an assignment or there are extenuating circumstances not covered under the execused absence policy, email me 24 hours before the deadline of an assignment to discuss an extension.

Academic Integrity

Aggie Honor Code. “An Aggie does not lie, cheat, or steal, or tolerate those who do.” It is the student’s responsibility to know the Aggie Honor Code and to understand what constitutes scholastic dishonesty and to avoid it all costs. Anything (particularly plagiarism and cheating on quizzes or projects) that appears to be a violation of the Aggie Honor Code will be reported to Dr. Christine Murray, Associate Director of Undergraduate Studies in English and the Aggie Honor System Office. For additional information please visit: http://aggiehonor.tamu.edu/.

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Policy

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a federal anti-discrimination statute that provides comprehensive civil rights protection 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 Disability Services, in Cain Hall, Room B118, or call 845-1637. For additional information visit http://disability.tamu.edu.

Schedule

Unit 1 – What Is Rhetoric Now?

This unit considers a number of major works that span the century of rhetorical studies and all ask or answer the question: what is rhetoric?

Week 1

Mon 08/31

  • Course Overview
  • How Did We Get Here? (or “Previously on Rhetorical Theory … “)

Wed 09/02

Week 2

Mon 09/07

Wed 09/09

Academic Writing Day

  • Writing About Rhetorical Theory
    • Summary
    • Quotation
    • Commentary

Unit 2 – Information: Rhetoric as Transmission

This unit explores the linguistic turn as a grounding for the revival of rhetoric in the 20th century. We begin by looking at key figures in this turn before exploring more fully rhetoricians engaged in producing theories in response to this turn. The unit wraps with Walter Ong's *Orality and Literacy*, which begins to lay the groundwork for what comes next.

Week 3

Mon 09/14

  • Ferdinand de Saussure, “Object of Linguistics” & “Nature of Linguistic Signs” From Course in General Linguistics

Wed 09/16

Week 4

Mon 09/21

Wed 09/23

Week 5

Mon 09/28

Wed 09/30

Week 6

Mon 10/05

  • Walter Ong, Orality and Literacy, ch. 3

Wed 10/07

  • Walter Ong, Orality and Literacy, ch. 4, 5, 7

Unit 3 – Noise: Rhetoric as Disruption

This unit explores poststructural or postmodern rhetorical theory as a development of the response to the crisis in structuralism instantiated by Jacques Derrida's developent of deconstruction. Further, this unit explores the wider range of audiences, affects, and perspectives that the challenge of poststructuralism made possible.

Week 7

Mon 10/12

Wed 10/14

Week 8

Mon 10/19

Wed 10/21

Week 9

Mon 10/26

Wed 10/28

Academic Writing Day

  • Written Proposals
  • Pitch Presentations

  • Research

  • Walter Ong Project Due 10/30 before Midnight

Week 10

Mon 11/02

Wed 11/04

Unit 4 – Stuff: Rhetoric as Force

This final unit explores the turn to materiality in rhetorical theory at the end of the 20th century. As computers become the dominant medium for thought itself, what if everything isn't actually a text? This unit explores turns to the digital, the material, and the animal as we end by looking at the future of rhetorical theory.

Week 11

Mon 11/09

Wed 11/11

Week 12

Mon 11/16

Wed 11/18

Academic Writing Day

  • Pitch Presentations

Week 13

Mon 11/23

Academic Writing Day

  • Pitch Presentations

Wed 11/25

No Class

Reading Day

Week 14

Mon 11/30

Wed 12/02

Week 15

Mon 12/07

No Class

Redefined Day, Go to Your Friday Class

Wed 12/09