Major Assignments

1) Midterm Mini-Rhetorical Analysis
2) Rhetoric/al Project
3) Presentations
4) Moodle Responses
5) Participation

Midterm Mini-Rhetorical Analysis (Due 2/28)

This is a rhetorical analysis of discourse. It's short--5 pages--but it should be well-thought. You are analyzing discourse in order to explain how (not just what) a speaker/author's conveys a message. Of course, there's always text and subtext in any message, so you have lots to work with. Consider media segments, speeches, printed arguments, YouTube diatribes, etc. Just explain how the text, segment, discourse carries meaning. You'll be looking for obvious rhetoric--persuasive phrases and images--but you should also look for a priori meaning--the values, attitudes, myths, and ideas--built into or associated with the segment's topic.

Ideally, I'd like you to focus on a shorter message and explain the many rhetorical "layers" you find as opposed to analyzing a longer piece and covering just one or two layers.

Below are the format logistics:

• Typed, double spaced (except heading), 12 pt font
• 1-inch margins all around
• Page numbers (anywhere)
• A title other than "Rhetorical Analysis"
• In-text citations: you must use quotations from the course reading and, if you choose, outside reading
• Works Cited/References page (I don't care which style--MLA, APA, Chicago, etc.--you use for your paper, but please choose one)

This is in lieu of an in-class midterm, so we won't workshop these essays. However, please start thinking about rhetoric as you read or consume media. Please don’t e-mail me a draft and say “look at this.” Please come to my office, so I may ask better questions.

Because of the wealth of material on these following speeches, please do not choose one of them:

• John F. Kennedy's Inaugural Address
• Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech
• Martin Luther King's "Letter from a Birmingham Jail"
  There are 1,000s of other civil rights text/speech acts from which to choose
• Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address

If you're wondering whether or not one particular text would be better over another, please ask, and I'll offer some advice.

Rhetoric/al Project (Due 4/25)

This is a big project that could serve as the beginning of a larger future project (i.e., a thesis, MA project, journal article). Pick any genre, but, in order to make it more fun, you ought to select a genre that reflects your professional interests and goals. The project may be as theoretical, practical, or personal as you like--an analytical essay on Lyotard; a "blog" (printed, of course) of your philosophical riffs on one or more of our texts; a fictional dialogue between Socrates and Nietzsche; a website featuring your own Key points and examples for understanding one of our figures; an investigation of the practical rhetoric of some workplace (a school, for instance, or a company); an application of rhetorical theory to the classroom (for instance, the teaching of reading, writing, or literature; or a discussion of “Great Books” ideology in curriculum design). It may be limited to a single course reading, or may link several, or may focus on a particular problem (“ethos”on the internet; the rhetoric of science textbooks; the nature of metaphor).

Regardless of your choice of project, you MUST focus on a work or (even better) works from this semester and include some outside resources. Cite scholars, philosophers, authors, etc. who help support what you're doing. You can't do any of these projects without incorporating outside research of some kind.

Below are the format logistics:

• Typed, double spaced (except heading), 12 pt font
• 1-inch margins all around
• Page numbers (anywhere)
• Approximately 15 pages
• A title other than "Rhetoric/al Project"
• In-text citations: you must use quotations from the course reading and several sources outside class readings
• Works Cited/References page (I don't care which style--MLA, APA, Chicago, etc.--you use for your paper, but please choose one)

This assignment might evolve over the semester, but I'll let you know more about it later.

Moodle Responses (Weekly)

500-word posts every week.

Presentations (Various times)

Leading Class Discussion

I would like you to open up discussion on a reading. I don't expect an exhaustive pontification in your discussion. Instead, I'd like you to lead the class for at least 30 minutes on a topic related to the reading. You don't need to have a formal activity for the class, but showing visuals, asking questions, and (possibly) having a web page devoted to your discussion (your notes) would be good.

One way to approach this assignment is to focus on a passage from one of our readings. You would explain what you feel is going on in the passage, possibly referring to what other's (e.g., Richards) have to say about the figure and the specific text. Then, you could relate it to an example out in the world. Because this is a presidential election year, I'm sure you'll have many "rhetorical" examples to choose from.

Consider the following goals as you prepare: Think about what you are familiar with and explain how that experience or lens gets you to think about the figure's topic--argument, discussion, way(s) to truth. Make connections to other examples outside of the text, and explain the significance in the connections you make.

Remember, you're leading the discussion; you don't have to finish it. It's more effective to go into greater detail about a few aspects of a reading than to skim the entire reading in 30 min.

Rhetoric/al Project Presentation (final exam day)

Here's your chance to get up and present on your rhetoric/al Project. In 10-15 min, please give us the highlights and connect your presentation back to a key figure or two (or more) we've read this semester. Besides making sure you're making smart arguments, consider the following grading criteria:

• Relevance (how sound are your points; how do you connect back to our authors and theories)
• Eye contact (look at us, not the screen)
• Appearance of preparation
• Voice projection
• Time (don't go under 10 min and don't go over 15)

Participation (Throughout the semester)

This is not a drill-and-skill type of course. I expect everyone to be involved in class discussions, which are extremely important for critical thinking. You must contribute to class discussions. Twenty-five percent (25%) of your grade is based on participation.

Please see me ASAP if you're concerned about your participation grade because you’re shy or if you don't understand these requirements. Telling me at the end of April that you didn't participate because you're the quiet type or because you didn't understand what "thoughtful" meant will be too late. Even worse, e-mailing me after the semester is over to complain that participation isn't a "valid" class assignment is too late. The purpose of discussions is for students to have control over their own learning and to reinforce critical thinking generally and dialogic exchange of ideas specifically. I am willing to provide a quasi-alternative to supplement a student's participation grade, but please note that discussion, which allows speakers to exchange ideas, is an extremely important component of critical thinking. One alternative is to do class reflections you post online. Please discuss this alternative with me early in the semester.

...