ENGL 355: Rhetoric of Style, Spring 2017

Course Information

Course

Number: ENGL 355
Title: Rhetoric of Style
Term: Spring 2017

Course Description

A class that focuses on the rhetorical choices authors make to compose texts for paricular purposes and specific audiences.

Assignments

Turn-in Procedures

All assignments will be turned in on eCampus to the appropriate drop box under the “Assignments” sidebar link. Do not bring a printed copy or email me your assignment.

Assignment Values

Assignment	Due Date	Value
Attendance	Daily	10%
Commonplace Book	Daily	20%
Field Reports	6 Times	10%
Progymnasmata (6)	6 Times	60%

Assignment Descriptions

Attendance

Show up to class for full credit. You may miss up to two unexcused absences or be late to class four times before your grade will begin to lower.

Commonplace Book

Here is the description of a commonplace book from Performing Prose:

Start keeping a commonplace book, a regular practice among many writers who have come to be known for their style. Henry David Thoreau, for example, kept one that grew to enormous proportions during his relatively short lifetime. A commonplace book is an informal record of your reading in which you copy out sentences and slightly longer passages that you find striking or well written, along with your own comments about the quotations. You can also practice your own prose performance by varying, parodying, or imitating the passages you copy.

To keep a commonplace book that focuses on style—one that records passages you like as much for the way they are written as for what they say—is a good way to advance your study of style, for at least two reasons. First, just the act of writing down the passage forces you to slow down and look at it more closely; the words and the patterns are more likely to impress themselves upon your mind. Second, as your commonplace book grows, you are building what the linguists call a corpus (literally a body) of samples you can use in stylistic study. You can begin your analysis by informally commenting on the passage. (13-14)

Commonplace books are historically kept on paper, which I strongly recommend for this course. Purchase a notebook or composition book and begin recording quotes that you find interesting or suggestive. Leave space for commentary (either as you transcribe or as you read through later). Make sure to include author, title, and page number so you remember where the quote is from. Also for the purposes of this class, please indicate on what date you documented the quote.

I will be checking your commonplace book once in Week 5 and grading it at the conclusion of the course. In both cases, you will receive a grade of a ✓,✓+, or a ✓-. To get a ✓, you will need to document two to three quotes per week from your reading (for my class and beyond) and have provided some commentary. Commonplace books that exceed this standard will get a ✓+; those that do not will get a ✓-. If you receive a grade you do not like at the check-in at Week 5, doing more will result in a better final grade.

Field Reports

Field reports are assignments designed to get you looking for material related to the class discussion for a given unit. For each of the six prompts below, you may bring in something you have written or a piece of writing by someone else (it is up to you). You may source your field reports from your commonplace book and you may also fill your commonplace book with objects for the field reports.

On the six days designated as field reports, you will bring in your response to the prompt and be prepared to share it and defend your reasoning for selecting it to the class. We will discuss and evaluate all the field reports with an eye toward better understanding what makes the solutions work together as solutions.

Bring in a few sentences of “good” writing by someone else.
Write a short description of space you know well in the high style. Write it again in the low.
Bring in a sentence (either your own or someone else’s) that is blue. Bring one that is red.
Write a slogan for this class.
Tell a story using emoji.
What does summer feel like?

To submit your field report, there will be a drop box on eCampus for each. You can also bring in your object in print or copied in your common place book.

Progymnasmata (6 Papers)

The Progymnasmata are a series of classical rhetorical “pre-exercises” that were given to aspiring rhetoricians to teach them the necessary skills to eventually become an effective public speaker. Sequenced in such a way that they build upon one another, the exercises—usually numbering between 12 and 14—ask students to move from mythos to logos, beginning in narrative and ending in logical argumentation. Along the way, students would learn a variety of writing techniques.

Though the progymnasmata would often be completed over the course of ten years, we will be completing a smaller selection over the semester. For each of the assignments, you will be asked to write a two (2) page, double-spaced paper completing the exercise’s task. Additionally, in class on the day we go over the assignment, I will give a division, which is the order in which the argument will progress. I will grade you on how well you conform to the division, how strongly you argue your position, and the creativity shown in your solution.

Fable

A simple, short story that often featured talking animals in which a moral is offerred at the beginning or end.

Click here to see the assignment sheet for the fable

Anecdote

A commentary on a famous quote or action from history.

Click here to see the assignment sheet for the anecdote

Personification

An imagined speech from the perspective of a famous figure from history at a moment of crisis.

Encomium OR Invective

An encomium elucidates a person, place, or thing with the goal of praising it and, by extension, explaining why it is worthy of praise. An invective does the opposite, explaining a person, place, or thing with the goal of attacking it as unworthy of praise.

Refutation

A logical reasoning against some piece of wisdom or conclusion drawn from history or folklore.

Description

A detailed and complete description of a person, place, or thing.

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 Progymnasmata 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 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. 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, currently located in the Disability Services building at the Student Services at White Creek complex on west campus or call 979-845-1637. For additional information, visit http://disability.tamu.edu.

Course Procedure

We meet twice a week, and each week Tuesdays will be for “field work” (ie. things you bring to class for us to discuss) and “book work” (where we discuss things you read designed to further your understanding of style and persuasion).

http://www.rhetcomp.gsu.edu/~gpullman/2150/Aphthonius%20Progymnasmata.htm http://web.archive.org/web/20100418055915/http://www.leeds.ac.uk/classics/resources/rhetoric/prog-lib.htm http://www.accsedu.org/filerequest/3724.pdf

Field Work Prompts

With each field work assignment, be prepared to explain to the class why you think what you bring answers the prompt’s challenge

Bring in a few sentences of “good” writing by someone else.
Bring in a sentence (either your own or someone else’s) that is blue. Bring one that is red.
Write a short description of space you know well in the high style. Write it again in the low.
What does summer feel like?
Tell a story using emoji.
Write a slogan for this class
Sit in a space for twenty minutes. Write what you hear.
Write a newspaper story about the end of the world.
Write the DVR guide description of the finale of season 4 of a TV show about you.

Book Work Readings

Projects

Write a set of instructions for a task that does not exist.
Find a free term paper essay online. Write a report on what the paper does well and what it does poorly. Make it better.

Schedule

Unit 1 – Levels of Style / Fable

Week 1 – Introduction

Tue 01/17

Course Overview
What is Style?
What is Rhetoric?

Thu 01/19

Week 2

Tue 01/24

Fables
David Sedaris, “The Migrating Warblers” (scroll down)
Gabrel Garcia Marquez, “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings”
Angela Carter, “The Werewolf”

Thu 01/26

Field Work #1

Unit 2 – Footing / Anecdote

Week 3

Tue 01/31

Performing Prose, Chapter 4

Thu 02/02

Donald Barthelme, “Game”
Joyce Carol Oates, “How I Contemplated the World From the Detroit House of Corrections and Began My Life Over Again”
Fable Due

Week 4

Tue 02/07

Anecdote
J.K. Rowling, “The Tale of the Three Brothers” + Commentary
Office Hours Rescheduled to 02.06

Thu 02/09

Field Work 2

Unit 3 – Sentences / Personification

Week 5

Tue 02/14

Rheotrical Style, Chapter 7
Commonplace Book Check

Thu 02/16

Dashiell Hammett, “Arson Plus”
Anecdote Due

Week 6

Tue 02/21

Rheotrical Style, Chapter 8
Rheotrical Style, Chapter 9

Thu 02/23

Charlotte Perkins Gilman, “The Yellow Wallpaper”

Week 7

Tue 02/28

Personification
Biden/Obama Memes
John Gardner, From Grendel
- (also be familiar with the plot of Beowulf)

Thu 03/02

Field Work 3

Unit 4 – Tropes / Encomium OR Invective

Week 8

Tue 03/07

Performing Prose, Chapter 6

Thu 03/09

Anaïs Nin, “The Houseboat”
Personification Due

Week 9

Tue 03/14

No Class

Spring Break

Thu 03/16