ENGL 354: Modern Rhetorical Theory, Fall 2017

Course Information

Course

  • Number: ENGL 354
  • Title: Modern Rhetorical Theory
  • Term: Fall 2017

Course Description

This course introduces students to rhetoric in the 20th century. Specifically, we will be exploring two themes that inform the understanding of rhetoric during this period: the discovery of the unconscious and the belief that society is a system for exchanging messages. The unconscious describes a society dominated by primal impulses and subject to violent, erratic behavior. Systems thinking marks society as rational and manageable. The competition between these two ideas structures many of the conversations surrounding persuasion in the 20th century, a century marked by the sudden and pronounced return of the study of rhetoric and persuasion.

Asking Good Discussion Questions

This is a list of tips for formulating good discussion questions as part of your rhetorical term presentation.

I have sourced this list from “We Aren’t Here to Learn What We Already Know” by Kyla Wazana Tompkins.

  • Make your discussion question simple, straightforward and jargon-free.
  • Proofread your questions so that you catch grammar and spelling mistakes.
  • Make your questions open-ended, i.e. not answerable with fact or by direct and immediate reference to the text.
  • Make sure your question doesn’t rely on information the rest of the class doesn’t have, OR give the class enough information and background to be able to engage the question. Make sure the question is answerable to start with, i.e., is not vague and does not rely on facts or assumptions not addressable within the confines of our class conversation.
  • Make reference to the text with quotes or page numbers: direct the class to look at a relevant passage, read it together out loud, and drill down into the writing and sentence structure itself to get at the problem you are looking at.
  • A good discussion question reframes some of the problems of the text and then tries to get at internal logical problems and paradoxes or to think through the consequences, implications and applications of the theory.
  • As such, questions about “experience” or “responses” or “feelings” tend not to be helpful questions – try to step back from personal responses and instead focus on the intellectual shape of the ideas and argument.
  • Often we are tempted to ask the “what about” question: e.g., what about the people who are excluded from this theory? Although not an unreasonable question, asked in this manner this is not really a sophisticated question because it doesn’t open up conversation. The only answer to “what about” is: they aren’t there. More productive is to ask: how do the exclusions at the heart of this work facilitate certain conclusions, problems or paradigms, what are these paradigms and what happens when we consider this theory in a broader context? What would this theory look like if re-written from a different point in history, different assumptions about political economy, etc.?
  • t’s not the worst idea to make sure you have some thoughts about how to answer your questions before sending them on to your colleagues. However, sometimes you are just really stumped and need to work through this question with your classmates. That’s okay too.
  • Which brings me to: it is often smart and productive to write a preamble to a question. That preamble might be a short intellectual history of your questions, it might contextualize the text you are working with, it might scaffold the question you want to ask by referring to other texts or many points in the same text. Don’t make this preamble so long that no-one can excavate the original question, however. Also….
  • If you can answer your question while you are writing it, you probably need to just state your point of view and move on to another, related, question.
  • Sometimes you are stuck with an instinct, a hunch, a nagging feeling and a half-formed question and you simply can’t move forward without thinking about it out loud. Bring those seemingly half-formed thoughts to the class: we will figure the direction or shape of your question together.
  • Finally: when you don’t get it, you don’t get it. Ask for help from the professor or your classmates, and feel free and supported in bringing your “I Don’t Get It” questions to class. We will all profit from these acts of intellectual humility and generosity.

Assignments

Assignment Values

Assignment Due Date Value
Rhetorical Term Presentation Continuous 20%
Respond, Reflect Apply Papers (3) See schedule 75%
Practice RRA Paper 09/15/2017 5%

Assignment Descriptions

Rhetorical Term Presentation

Once during the semester, you will be required to deliver a presentation on a key term in rhetorical theory. The list of terms can be viewed here. During this presentation, you will:

  • Define the term
  • Discuss it’s history
  • Provide at least two examples of its usage in:
    • Political Speech
    • TV Advertising
    • Popular Culture
    • Nonfiction Writing
    • Journalism
  • Discuss contemporary applications of the term
  • Ask the class a question for discussion about the term
  • Provide a list of five (5) scholarly sources that discuss the term

I have placed A Handlist of Rhetorical Terms and Soucebook on Rhetoric on reserve in the Evans Library Annex, on the First Floor, as starting places (they are the standard references in the field). Additionally, Wikipedia may be a useful starting point.

We will do one presentation per class, at the beginning of class. I will circulate a sign-up sheet and you may sign up for topics on a first come, first served basis.

You must be present on the day of your presentation to get credit for this assignment.

You will need to provide me with your slides at least an hour before class.

Finally, before the class meeting following your presentation, you will need to post a blog entry to our class blog with the definition of your term and your five sources. This blog will serve as our course reference for rhetorical theory.

Respond, Reflect, Apply Papers (3)

The primary assignment for this course is a series of relatively short papers in which you will engage closely with the texts we read. These are designed to help you better understand and to relate to the theoretical texts we will be reading in this class, while also allowing you to show your comprehension of the readings.

You will complete 3 of these papers, each 3-5, double-spaced pages in length, spaced throughout the course of the semester. Formatting for these papers should be 1” margins, 12 point, Times New Roman font.

For each of the papers, you will write three sections:

  1. Respond: engage directly with some aspect (usually a concept defined) with at least two texts in a substantial fashion. You must demonstrate that you understand the texts and have thought about their importance.
  2. Reflect: consider the relationship between the texts and a broader understanding of the concept in question, your understanding of language, or your knowledge of culture in general.
  3. Apply: bring in at least one example, either personal, cultural, or otherwise that helps make these concepts useful for you, personally or academically.

You must complete all three sections for full credit. Keep in mind that these papers are also intended to be short. You must be concise and particular as you engage with each of these three tasks. Additionally, these three tasks must be connected as one cohesive essay.

Attendance Component

You do not receive a separate attendance grade in this course; however, you will receive a portion of your grade on each RRA paper based on your attendance in class. If you miss more than one (1) class or are late to (2) during the unit to which your RRA responds, you will lose points for this portion of your RRA grade.

Possible Topics

Each paper asks you to think about the relationship between what we have read about language power and broader cultural contexts (include your own life). These sets of questions are intended as a starting point; feel free to digress as much as you want from them in the course of writing your paper.

Unit 1: The Public
  1. Public—Who or what is the public and why is it important to studying rhetoric? How is this concept new or strange or a problem? How do you see your relationship to “the” “public”?
  2. Propaganda—What is the basis of propaganda? What is it for, who does it serve, and who does it affect? Where and how does propaganda exist today and might it also be a positive concept?
  3. Public & Propaganda—What is the relationship between the public and propaganda? Does the existence of the public always imply its engineering? How does the changing nature of the public today also change the nature of propaganda?
Unit 2: Signs of Persuasion
  1. Signs—What is a sign? Why would this concept be a strange or new way of approaching linguistic power? Can you think of an example of signs having particular power in your life and how that happened?
  2. Misunderstanding—How might misunderstanding become a basis for rhetoric? How do we identify misunderstanding and how can we use it persuasively? Where do you see persuasive misunderstandings in your life?
  3. Time & Place—When are we doing rhetoric and when are we not? What are the costs and benefits of different understandings of situating rhetoric? When was a time you particularly felt rhetorical?
Unit 3: Rhetoric in the World
  1. Who Persuades—Who is capable of doing rhetoric? What relationship between users of rhetoric and oppression are implied here? Have you ever particularly felt excluded from persuasion and why?
  2. Myth—Does rhetoric manipulate myth? If rhetoric is mythic, what does that mean about are “civilized” age? Can you think of another myth you see persuasive in society today?
  3. Circuits—What does it mean for rhetoric to move in a public? If rhetoric circulates, what is it? Where have you seen rhetoric in circulation?

Practice RRA Paper

To get you started with the RRA papers, you have a practice RRA paper due in the third week of class. You will receive a completion grade for this assignment (did you turn in a complete assignment or not?); however, I will be providing detailed feedback on this first paper to get you familiar with the expectations for the RRA papers that will be graded with a rubric.

As with the RRA, feel free to be guided by any of the sets of questions below:

  1. Desire—What role does unconscious desire play in decisions? Does the presence of an unconscious mean we have to change how we think about persuasion? What would be an example of the unconscious governing rational decision making?
  2. Modernity—What do our readings allows us to question about society that the authors claim we did not notice at earlier moments? What do these changes imply for how we think about rhetoric? How are changing technologies changing our understanding of civilization today?

Course Policies

These are the policies that govern our class. You are responsible for knowing the information on this page before contacting me regarding policy questions.

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 visit 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 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 me of the situation before you return to class, so that we can work out how to handle the situation before it becomes an issue.

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.” However, I do accept late work and will take off 5 points for every day late. These points are removed after the paper is graded, such that a paper that would have received an 85% that was 3 days late will receive a 70%.

Additionally, if you are falling behind on a project and feel that you are not going to finish on time, email me 24 hours before the assignment is due to request an extension. In this email, propose how many additional days you will need to finish the assignment. Requests for extension that do not contain this information will not be honored.

Technology

In the 21st century, 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. I have recently started using BackBlaze and found it to be a great and inexpensive online, automated backup. Save multiple times throughout each work session to both your backup and your computer’s copy. In this class, I hold you accountable for making sure your technology is working correctly.

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 the appropriate authorities. For additional information please visit: http://aggiehonor.tamu.edu/.

Also, the following is a helpful resource for describing kinds and severity of plagiarism. Note this graphic is not from A&M, where rules may differ: http://thevisualcommunicationguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Infographic_Did-I-Plagiarize1.jpg

American with Disabilities Act (ADA)

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.

Rhetorical Terms

Working with both Soucebook on Rhetoric and A Handlist of Rhetorical Terms, make sure to read entries that are referenced in the entry you are assigned, so that you can more fully understand the context and background of your term.

A note for when we sign up, these topics get harder as you move down the list. If you put off your presentation to later in the semester, you will be choosing a more difficult topic.

  1. Invention
  2. Arrangement
  3. Style
  4. Memory
  5. Delivery
  6. Audience
  7. Ethos
  8. Logos
  9. Pathos
  10. Epideictic Rhetoric
  11. Forensic Rhetoric
  12. Deliberative Rhetoric
  13. Scheme
  14. Trope
  15. Topoi
  16. Decorum
  17. Doxa
  18. Enthymeme
  19. Mystification
  20. Conspiracy
  21. Jeremiad
  22. Motive
  23. Power
  24. Toulmin Argument (look under “Argument”)
  25. Epistemic Rhetoric
  26. Invitational Rhetoric
  27. Neo-Aristotelianism
  28. Dramatism
  29. Public Sphere

Schedule

Unit 1 – The Public

Week 1 – What Was Rhetoric?

Mon 08/28

  • Course Overview

Wed 08/30

  • Course Overview, Take 2

Fri 09/01

  • Boethius, “An Overview of the Structure of Rhetoric”

Week 2 – Modernism and the Crisis of Democracy

Mon 09/04

Wed 09/06

  • Sigmund Freud, from Civilization and Its Discontents

Fri 09/08

  • Bronislaw Malinowski, from Myth in Primitive Psychology

Week 3 – Mass Media and "The" "Public"

Mon 09/11

  • Walter Lippmann, from Public Opinion
  • Presentation on Invention

Wed 09/13

Fri 09/15

  • Lippmann
  • Presentation on Style
  • Practice RRA Due

Week 4 – Responses to Lippmann

Mon 09/18

Wed 09/20

  • George Herbert Mead, from Mind, Self, and Society
  • Presentation on Delivery

Fri 09/22

  • Mead & Dewey
  • Presentation on Audience

Week 5 – Manipulating the Public

Mon 09/25

  • Edward Bernays, from Propaganda
    • Ch. 1-2
  • Presentation on Ethos

Wed 09/27

  • Kenneth Burke, “The Rhetoric of Hitler’s Battle”
  • Presentation on Logos

Fri 09/29

  • Burke & Bernays
  • Presentation on Pathos

Unit 2 – Signs of Persuasion

Week 6 – This is all Happening In Language!

Mon 10/02

  • Ferdinand de Saussure, “Object of Linguistics” & “Nature of Linguistic Signs” from Course in General Linguistics
  • Presentation on Epideictic Rhetoric

Wed 10/04

  • Friedrich Nietzsche, “On Truth and Lies in a Nonmoral Sense”
  • Presentation on Forensic Rhetoric

Fri 10/06

  • Saussure & Nietzsche
  • Presentation on Deliberative Rhetoric
  • RRA #1 Due

Week 7 – Rhetoric: The Return, Wk. 1

Mon 10/09

  • I.A. Richards, from The Philosophy of Rhetoric (Lecture 2)
  • Presentation on Scheme

Wed 10/11

  • I.A. Richards, from The Philosophy of Rhetoric (Lecture 3)
  • Presentation on Trope

Fri 10/13

  • Richards
  • Presentation on Topoi

Week 8 – Rhetoric: The Return, Wk. 2

Mon 10/16

  • Chaim Perelman & Lucie Olbrechts-Tolteca, from The New Rhetoric
  • Presentation on Decorum

Wed 10/18

Fri 10/20

  • Perelman, Olbrechts-Tolteca, & Booth
  • Presentation on Enthymeme

Week 9 – Rhetoric's Situation

Mon 10/23

Wed 10/25

Fri 10/27

  • Bitzer & King
  • Presentation on Jeremiad

Week 10 – Signs & Power

Mon 10/30

  • J.L. Austin, from How To Do Things With Words
  • Presentation on Motive

Wed 11/01

  • Jacques Derrida, “Signature, Event, Context”
  • Presentation on Power

Fri 11/03

  • Austin & Derrida
  • Presentation on Toulmin Argument

Unit 3 – Rhetoric in the World

Week 11 – The Myth of Woman

Mon 11/06

  • Simone De Beauvoir, from The Second Sex
  • Presentation on Epistemic Rhetoric

Wed 11/08

Fri 11/10

  • RRA #2 Due

Week 12 – New Theories of Communication

Mon 11/13

  • De Beauvoir and Friedan
  • Presentation on Neo-Aristotelianism

Wed 11/15

  • Henry Louis Gates, Jr., from Signifying Monkey
  • Presentation on Dramatism

Fri 11/17

Week 13 – Writing Digits & Thanksgiving Break

Mon 11/20

  • Gates and Foss & Griffin

Wed 11/22

No Class

Reading Day

Fri 11/24

No Class

Thanksgiving Break

Week 14 – Origins of Persuasion

Mon 11/27

Wed 11/29

Fri 12/01

  • Kennedy & Doyle

Week 15 – Affective Circulations

Mon 12/04

Redefined Day

Wed 12/06