Schedule of Studies

 

 

January

 

13

Introduction to Class

Wiki Orientation

Information Exchange

-Urine- Writing Samples Collected

Due: FirstResponse due before 9 AM, Thursday, January 15

Reading Assignments

• The appendix ("Entering Class Discussions") in They Say/I Say (133-135)
• Chapters 1 ("Why Argue") and 2 ("Reading Arguments") in Good Reasons (1-29).
• The wikipedia entry on enthymeme
• Gorgias' Encomium to Helen. If you're unfamiliar with the Trojan War or the figure of Helen in greek mythology, you might want to read up on it or at least see a crap movie about it.
• Excerpts from Plato's Gorgias

 

15

Disciplining Rhetoric

Rhetorical Toolbox Opened

Enthymemes

Stasis Theory

Rhetorical Triangles

Artistic Appeals

Due: SecondResponse due before 9 AM, Tuesday, January 20

Reading Assignments:

• Chapter 1 "They Say" in They Say/I Say (17-27)
• Gore Vidal: Drugs
• Theodore Dalyrymple: Don't Legalize Drugs

 

20

Rhetorical Toolbox II

Tools added

Due: ThirdResponse due before 9AM, Thursday, January 22

Reading Assignments:

• Instructions for ProjectOne
• Chapters 3 ("Finding Arguments") and 6 ("Analyzing Visual Arguments") in Good Reasons (30-51; 90-100)
• Ruth Shalit: Return of the Hidden Persuaders part one and part two
• Thomas Frank: Why Johnny Can't Dissent

 

22

Lost in the Supermarket

The Rhetoric of Advertising

Introduction to ProjectOne

Due: FourthResponse due before 9 AM, Tuesday, January 27

Reading Assignments

• Chapter 4 ("Drafting and Revising Arguments") in Good Reasons (52-65)
• Chapter 7 ("So What? Who Cares?") in They Say/I Say (88-97).

 

27

Workshopping Introductions

The Importance of Introductions

Exigence

Argumentative Strategies

Due: Rough draft of your execution of ProjectOne to your wiki page before class on Thursday

 

29

First Rough Draft Workshop

Due: Drop a link to your final draft of ProjectOne on the ProjectOneStorageBin page before midnight, February 4

Reading Assignments

• Review instructions for, and student sample executions of, ProjectTwo
• Chapter 5 ("Analyzing Written Arguments") in Good Reasons (69-79)
• Chapters 2 ("Her Point Is") and 3 ("As He Himself Puts It") and the readings "Don't Blame the Eater" and "The Empire of Images in Our World of Bodies" in They Say/I Say (28-48; 139-141; 149-161)

 

 

February

 

3

The Rhetorical Analysis

Introduction to ProjectTwo

First In-Class Rhetorical Workout

Reading Assignments

• Read the introduction - "Hooked on Fame" - to Fame Junkies as well as the chapter your team has been assigned

 

 

5

Hooked on Rhetorical Analysis

Rhetorical Workout on Fame Junkies

Due: FifthResponse due before 9 AM, February 10

Reading Assignment

• Read the entirety of Shooting War

 

10

Getting Graphic: Rhetoric at War

Rhetorical analysis of Shooting War

 

 

12

Zombies of Rhetoric I

Rhetorical Analysis of Diary of the Dead

 

 

17

Zombies of Rhetoric II

Rhetorical Analysis of Diary of the Dead continued

Due: Rough draft of ProjectTwo due to your Roster page before class

 

19

Rough Draft Workshop: The Wrath of the Rough Draft Workshop

How (Not) to Fuck up ProjectTwo

Sentence-Level Thunderdome

Mid-point class feedback

Due:

• Post a link to your final draft of ProjectTwo to the ProjectTwoCoffin page before midnight, February 22
• Complete ResponseNine before 9 AM, Thursday, February 23

Reading Assignments

• Instructions for ProjectThree (the definition project)
• Chapter 4 ("Yes/No/Okay, But") in They Say/I Say (51-63)
• Chapter 8 ("Definition Arguments") in Good Reasons (113-136)
• Calvin Klein: A Case Study
• 'Virtual Child Pornography' on the Internet: A Virtual Victim?
• Supreme Court Rules First Amendment Protects 'Virtual' Child Porn

 

 

24

The Question of Definitions

ProjectThree introduced

Different Types of Definitions

Debates over (Virtual) (Child) Pornography Definitions

Reading Assignments

• Chapters 16 ("Planning Research"), 17 ("Finding Sources), 18 ("Evaluating and Recording Sources"), and 19 ("Writing the Research Paper") in Good Reasons (247-278)

 

26

Library Research Tutorial

Meet me in the lobby of the UGL during class time tomorrow

Contact Judith Arnold before or very early in the semester to set up a library research tutorial

Due:

• ResponseTen due by 9 AM Thursday

Reading Assignments

• Chapter 9 ("Causal Arguments") in Good Reasons (137-144)
• James Dobson's Gay Marriage: Why Would it Affect Me?
• Susan Thompson's Speak Now or Forever Hold Your Peace? Why We Need Queer Critiques of Gay Marriage
• Scott Bidstrup Gay Marriage: The Arguments and the Motives

 

 

March

 

3

Defining (Gay) Marriage_

Reading Assignments

• Chapter 5 ("And Yet") in They Say/I Say (64-73)
• Chapter 15 ("Presenting Arguments") in Good Reasons (238-244)
• The University of Washington Medical School's page on Physician-Assisted Suicide
• Chuck Colson's From a Slippery Slope to an Avalanche
• Mary Shaw's The Other Pro-Choice Movement

 

5

First Ever 1020 Public Debate Thunderdome!!!

Defining and Debating Physician-Assisted Suicide

Due: Rough Draft of ProjectThree due before class on March 10

Reading Assignments

• Chapters 20 ("Documenting Sources in MLA Style") and 21 ("Documenting Sources in APA Style") in Good Reasons (280-321)

 

10

Rough Draft Workshop III: Return of The King

Reading Assignments:

• Read over the instructions for ProjectFour
• Read chapter 10 ("Evaluation Arguments") in Good Reasons (156-173)
• Read Casey Carmikal's The Death Penalty: Morally Defensible?
• Read the interview Witness to an Execution

 

12

Introduction to Project Four: Evaluation/Proposal

Common Tools and Strategies for Evaluation and Proposal Arguments

Return of the 1020 Public Debate Thunderdome

 

Spring Break

 

24

 

26

Reading Assignments

• Read chapter 13 ("Proposal Arguments") in Good Reasons (212-225)

 

 

31

Reading Assignments

• Read Charle's Krauthammer's Of Headless Mice...and Men
• Read The Human Genome Project's Cloning Fact Sheet

Viewing Assignment

• Watch Human Cloning: Why the Fuss?

 

 

April

 

2

Last 1020 Public Debate Thunderdome Ever

 

7

Rough Draft Workshop IV: A New Hope

Due:

Final Draft of ProjectFour due by 11:59 PM, April 9

Reading Assignments

• Chapter 9 ("Ain't So/Is Not") in They Say/I Say (115-122)
• Mike Davis: Fortress LA
• Jerry Herron: Downtown Time Capsule

 

9

Introduction to ProjectFive: The Cultural Analysis

Writing About Places: Detroit and LA

Reading Assignments

• Chapter 8 ("As a Result: Connecting the Parts") in They Say/I Say (101-114)
• Slajov Zizek: What Rumsfeld Doesn't Know He Knows About Abu Ghraib
• Susan Sontag: Regarding the Torture of Others

 

14

Cultural Analysis Continued

Writing About Events: Abu Ghraib

Reading Assignment

• Chapter 10 ("In Other Words") in They Say/I Say (123-132)
• Julian Dibbell's The Unreal Estate Boom

 

16

Cultural Analysis Continued

Writing About Practices: Video Gaming

Reading Assignment

• Chapter 11 ("Narrative Arguments") in Good Reasons (177-191)
• Excerpt from Steven Johnson's Everything Bad is Good For You (available on Blackboard)

 

21

Cultural Analysis Continued

Writing About Practices: Watching Television

 

23

Final Class Meeting & Rough Draft Workshop V: Rough Draft Workshop and the Last Crusade

SRTEs Administered

Tearful Farewell :-(

Due: Rough drafts of ProjectFive due one your Roster page by 9 AM, April 25