Rhetoric 1302 – section 502

Spring 2006

INSTRUCTOR
THOMAS B. DOUGLAS
University of Texas at Dallas
School of Arts & Humanities

*DAYS/TIME (MW 7:00 pm – 8:15 pm.)

*LOCATION (JO 4.306)

*Office: (JO 4.118)

*Office Hours: (Wednesday 8:15 – 9:15 and by appointment)

*Phone: (214-341-6711)

*Email: tbd013000@utdallas.edu
(Alternative) tbdouglas_utd@yahoo.com

UTD Rhetoric Website: http://lingua.utdallas.edu/rhetoric

Contains links to course syllabus, reference and research resources.

CLASS BLOG SITE: http://www.motime.com

Course Description
This course focuses on critical thinking by using an integrated approach to writing that
teaches various rhetorical strategies for reading and constructing arguments, both written and
visual. You will learn to read texts critically according to key components in argumentative
discourse (i.e., claims, grounds, explicit and implicit assumptions, fallacies, etc.) and to
recognize the different purposes of argument. You will write and revise two papers and
present one rhetorical visual argument based on issues and controversies raised in the various
texts read during the semester. The assignments will give you extensive practice in reading
critically and writing according to the rhetorical conventions of an argumentative essay.

Required Texts & Supplies

Everything’s an Argument by Andrea Lunsford, John Ruszkiewicz, and Keith Walters, 3rd ed.
Quick Access Reference for Writers by Lynn Troyka, 4th ed.

Also bring a floppy disk (PC-formatted if you use a PC, Mac-formatted if you use a Mac),
Flash drive, or CD/RW. The Rhetoric classroom uses Macintosh computers that can read
either format. Most documents will be produced in Microsoft Word. Whether you use MS
Word outside of the classroom or not, it is best to save your files as rich text format (RTF) to
insure compatibility between the word processing program you use and the one in your
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classroom.

The following is subject to change at the discretion of the instructor.

Attendance Policy
Because participation is vital to successful completion of Rhetoric 1302, you should attend
every class. If you must be absent, check with your classmates or with me for any work you
missed that can be made up. Much of the work is done collaboratively in class. Alternative
assignments are generally not given, nor can the instructor “re-teach” missed classes for
individual students. If you miss more than three classes, your grade can be negatively
affected and/or you may be encouraged to drop the class. Two tardies will count as one
absence. Chronic tardiness is unacceptable, as are coming to class unprepared, doing work
that is not for this course during class, sleeping in class, or using the computers or other
personal electronic devices for personal messaging, research, or entertainment. Please turn
off cellular/mobile phones, pagers, and other personal electronic devices during class.

Drop Policy
See here for details on deadlines and procedures for dropping:
http://www.utdallas.edu/student/registrar/lookup/dropadd.html

Office Hours
Please note my regular office hours above. You also can arrange to see me at other times that
are mutually convenient. Office hours belong to you just as much as our class time. Don’t
hesitate to take advantage of my availability and the help I am ready to offer. If you need to
contact me outside of class time or office hours, it is best to communicate with me by email
rather than the office phone.

Email Policy
IMPORTANT NOTICE TO UTD STUDENTS: As of August 1, 2004, all email
correspondence with students will be sent ONLY to the student's U.T. Dallas email address.
U.T. Dallas provides each student with a free email account that is to be used in all
communication with university personnel. This allows the university to maintain a high
degree of confidence in the identity of all individuals corresponding and the security of the
transmitted information. The Department of Information Resources at U.T. Dallas provides a
method for students to forward email from other accounts to their U.T. Dallas address and
have their U.T. Dallas mail sent on to other accounts. Students may go to the following URL
to establish or maintain their official U.T. Dallas computer account: http://netid.utdallas.edu/

Grading Policy
This class offers you an approach to learning that may be different from your past
experiences. Because the course is concerned with your development as a critical reader and
writer, the grading strategy will track and monitor that development. Your work will be
collected in your own blog site, and your progress throughout the semester will be monitored.
This method of grading in this class is referred to as the “Holistic Approach.” What this
means is that your assignments will not receive individual grades but will receive individual
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attention from me, and, at times, from your classmates. Your mid-term and final grades
will be based on your portfolio of written observations and your work samples, including
collaborative work and your two major essays plus your visual argument. In addition to
these assignments, you will also present (at midterm and at the end of term) a written
argument defending the grade that you think you deserve; in this argument you will
summarize your learning and estimate the grade that the evidence of your learning supports.
In other words, you will directly apply what you learn in this course, argumentative writing,
by arguing for your own grade. However, each component of the class is vital to your
argument: your attendance, participation, promptness, level of writing, effective arguments,
creativity, collaboration, sound rhetorical skills, competent use of technology—all of these
things and more contribute to an outstanding portfolio.

Your goal is to demonstrate your development toward mastery of five course strands
(rhetoric, research, technology, collaboration, and critical thinking) and development across
five dimensions of learning (confidence and independence, skills and strategies, knowledge
and understanding, use of prior and emerging experience, and reflectiveness). These goals
will be discussed throughout the course.

The following grade criteria describe very general indicators that both you and your
instructor may take into consideration when assessing your work and progress in the
course. Your estimation of your mid-term and final grades should be more detailed and
specific and may include a ‘+’ or ‘–‘, if your work tilts above or below the central grade
for which you argue. But the final interpretation and assessment of your grade remains
the responsibility of your teacher.

A: Represents outstanding participation in all course activities (including attendance and

promptness); all assigned work completed on time, with very high quality in all work
produced for the course. There must be evidence of significant and sustained
development across the five dimensions of learning and five course strands.

B: Represents excellent participation in all course activities (including attendance and

promptness); all assigned work completed on time, with consistently high quality in
course work. There must be evidence of marked and above average development across
the five dimensions of learning and five course strands.

C: Represents good (but average) participation in all course activities; all assigned work
completed, with generally good quality overall in course work. There must be evidence
of some development across the five dimensions of learning and five course strands.

D: Represents uneven participation in course activities; some gaps in assigned work

completed, with inconsistent quality in course work. Evidence of development across the
five dimensions of learning and five course strands is partial or unclear.

F: Represents minimal participation in course activities; serious gaps in assigned work

completed, or very low quality in course work. Evidence of development is not available.
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THERE WILL BE NO “INCOMPLETES” IN THIS CLASS

UTD Grading scale

http://www.utdallas.edu/student/catalog/undergrad02/progress.html#Grading%20Scale

Plagiarism Policy
Plagiarism is the representation of another person’s work as your own, whether you mean to
or not. For example, copying or paraphrasing passages from another writer’s work without
acknowledging that you’ve done so is plagiarism. Allowing another writer to write any part
of your essay is plagiarism. Copying or purchasing a paper from any source is plagiarism.

Plagiarism is a serious offense. The possible consequences range from failing the assignment
to failing the course, or worse. Each incident of plagiarism at UTD must be reported to the
administration. If you are not sure how to properly cite a quoted or paraphrased source, or if
you need help with the format of a citation, check with the New Century Handbook and/or
with your teacher. Although you can (and, in fact, should) seek help and advice from friends,
classmates, tutors, and others, be sure that your written work is your own.

See the Undergraduate Catalog for information about the consequences of Scholastic
Dishonesty, or view the policy here (which is also a link on the Rhetoric Program website):

http://www.utdallas.edu/student/slife/dishonesty.html.

MAJOR ASSIGNMENTS

NO LATE PAPERS ACCEPTED

First Essay: An essay that presents a causal or proposal argument using the principles and
criteria in Everything’s an Argument (Chapter11 or 12). This essay should be 5-6 double-
spaced pages and should use MLA format for all works cited.
First draft due: 2/13
Second draft due: 2/15
Final draft due: 2/22

Second Essay: An essay that presents a definition or evaluation argument using the
principles and criteria in Everything’s an Argument (Chapter 9 or 10). Essay should be 5-6
double-spaced pages using MLA format for Works Cited.
First draft due: 3/20
Second draft due: 3/22
Final draft due: 3/29

Third and final: Visual Argument: An integrated textual and visual essay, or a purely
visual essay, that examines and analyzes the argument of a visual image (or images) using
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the criteria in Chapter 14 of Everything’s an Argument. This presentation may be
included in your own personal blog site, or it can be a Power Point presentation, a quick-time
movie or any other visual medium. Be creative. We can talk about what you want to do.
Remember that this will be the last formal presentation in class, and it must be presented to
the class as a whole. This will give everyone a chance to make their mark with this last
presentation. Visual images can be pulled in from a multitude of sources, online, magazines,
newspapers and advertisements.
First draft due: 4/10
Second draft due: 4/12
Final draft due: 4/17

MINOR ASSIGNMENTS

In addition to the “formal papers and presentation,” we will read editorials, essays, and
articles that relate to current debates and events. Usually these discussions will not require
take-home work, but instead, we will deal with such topics in class, on the “spur of the
moment” and write “observations” and “responses” on an impromptu basis. These responses
will be recorded in your own personal blog site and will be included in your final “portfolio”
at the end of the semester.

Syllabus Itinerary (subject to change)

[Assignments are due by the next class period unless noted otherwise]
[Assignments from Everything’s an Argument textbook will be denoted by EA; assignments
from Quick Access Handbook will be denoted by QA]

MON 1/9: In-class: Introduction to course, books, policies, net id. Register with
motime.com and QA e-book online.
Assignments: Read handout: Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave.” Read in EA Ch 1 and QA Chs
1-3; Log on with QA and complete the “Diagnostic Test” by Wednesday 1/18. E-mail me a
short Bio (introduce yourself, include contact information, and tell me a little about yourself
and your major) to me by Wednesday 1/11. Write a one page reflection (hard copy to be
handed in on Wednesday 1/18) on Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave.”

WED 1/11: In-class: Set up a blog site. Discuss EA Ch 1 and QA Chs 1-3.
Assignments: Continue to establish your blog site. Keeping with the spirit of the time, we
will read Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, Rankin’s “King’s Speech,” Curtis’
“Kings Don’t Own Words,” Goodman’s “Who Owns Dr. King’s Words,” and King’s “Letter
from the Birmingham Jail.”(provided)

MON 1/16: NO CLASS. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. DAY

WED 1/18: The “Diagnostic Test” in the QA should be completed by now. Hand in your
one page reflection of Plato. We will discuss Martin Luther King.
Assignments: Read Chs 2-3 in EA; Read Tannen’s essay “Teachers’ Classroom Strategies
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Should Recognize That Men and Women Use Language Differently.” (EA, pp 730-736)

MON 1/23: In-class: We will continue our discussion of King, discuss Plato, the Tannen
essay and EA Chs 2-3.
Assignments: Read handout from Gorgias: Defense of Helen. Read EA Chs 4-5, and 2
essays: “Always Living in Spanish” by Agosin (pp755-756); “The Gift of Language” by Cao
(760-767), from EA reader

WEDNESDAY 1/25 IS THE LAST DAY TO WITHDRAW WITHOUT A

“W” ON YOUR TRANSCRIPT.

WED 1/25: In-class: Discuss Gorgias, discuss Chs 4-5 and the readings.
Assignments: Read EA Chs 6-7 and read the “Choral Ode” from Antigone.

MON 1/30: Discuss EA Chs 6-7 and Antigone’s “Choral Ode”.

Assignments: Read EA Ch 8 (pay close attention to the Toulmin Method): Also,
Dersowitz’s “Why Fear National ID Cards” (556-558), Suggs’ “Colleges Consider Fairness
of Cutting Men’s Teams to Comply with Title IX” (590-594).

WED 2/1: Library Tour: Class meets in the library (Attendance mandatory)
Assignments: Read chs 11and 12 and begin thinking/working on Essay #1 (Causal or
Proposal Essay) Cottle’s “Turning Boys in Girls” (486-489), Onishi’s “Globalization of
Beauty makes Slimness Trendy” (474-476), Girsh’s “Should Physician-Assisted Suicide be
legalized? Yes!” (654-659), Loconte’s “Hospice not Hemlock” (660-666)

MON 2/6: In-class: Group discussion of the paper topics and discussion of all the assigned
readings, i.e., Chs 8, 11, 12 and all the readings
Assignments: Read excerpt from Plato’s Phaedrus, Chs 20, 21, and 22.

WED 2/8: Discussion of Phaedrus, and continued discussion of the readings and the paper
topics. Demonstration of QA Research Navigator and Documentation electronic resources.
Assignments: Read QA Handbook on MLA format and how to cite and create a works cited
page; Read EA Chs 13, 14, and 18. Work on draft of essay #1, due 2/15.

MONDAY 2/13: WP/WF WITHDRAWAL PERIOD BEGINS

MON 2/13: In-class: First draft of essay #1 due today for Peer Review: Students need to
bring in three copies of their essays, and they will exchange their papers with other students
in order to respond to the provided Peer Review Questionnaire. Discussion of Chs 18, and
group discussion of papers.
Assignments: Take into account your peer responses to your papers, and have your Second
Draft ready to turn in (with the attached Peer Reviews) by Wednesday the 15th.

WED 2/15: Individual student-teacher conferences. Apx 10-15 minutes per student. Turn in
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your Second Draft.
Assignments: Read chapter 19 and be prepared to be able to identify the different fallacies
in class on Monday the 20th. Think about these fallacies in relation to your paper and
continue to think about how to improve essay # 1.

MON 2/20: In-class: Your paper will be returned and the completed final draft will be due
on Wednesday the 22nd. Discussion of fallacies.
Assignments: Finish the final draft of your essay to turn in on Wednesday the 22nd.

WED 2/22: In-class: Final draft of Essay #1 due. General discussion, recap of the class:
where we have we been and where we are going from here?
Assignments: Read EA Ch 9; from EA, read Leo’s “Fu Mancho on Naboo,”(496-499)
Sterngold’s “Able to Laugh at Their People, Not Just Cry for Them,” (500-503) and Alexie’s
“The Exaggeration of Despair.” (504-505) and “Suite for Ebony and Phonics” by Rickford
(723-729)

MON 2/27: In-class: Discussion of EA Ch 9 and assigned readings.

Assignments: More Definitional Arguments. Read in EA, pp 828 – 874 and be ready to
discuss all these articles in class on Wednesday. Midterms are coming up. You need to craft
an argument defending the work you have done up to this point and argue for a grade. In
order for me to submit your midterm grades on time, and taking into account Spring Break,
you need to have this turned in to me by Wednesday. Begin to think about your
Definition/Evaluation Argument.

WED 3/1: In-class: Turn in your Midterm grade argument. Continued discussion of the
readings.
Assignments: No assignments. Spring Break is here!

SPRING BREAK!
MON 3/13: In-class: Continue our discussion of Definition arguments.
Assignments: Read EA Ch 10; Read in EA: Levesque’s “Sitcom Dad’s Rarely Know Best,
Study of TV Laments” (506-508), Carr’s “On the Covers of Many Magazines a Full Racial
Profile is Still Rare,” (509-512) James’ “It is all in the Mix: A Plastic Surgery Reality Show”
(480-482), Neustatter’s and Young’s “Why Shouldn’t the Epidermally Challenged Get
Help”… “Men Should Have Better Things to Do,” (483-485) Cottle’s “Turning Boys into
Girls” (486-489), Telsand “Selling Men’s Underwear across the Decades.”(490-493), The
Chicago Women’s Clubs “Pledge for Children” (702-703), Dorfman’s “If Only We All
Spoke Two Languages” (704-706), Lee’s “Mute in an English Only World” (707-711), Tan’s
“Mother Tongue” (712-717).

THURSDAY 3/16 IS THE LAST DAY TO WITHDRAW WITH A

WP/WF. FROM THIS DATE FORWARD, ALL GRADES BECOME A
PART OF YOUR PERMANENT TRANSCRIPT AND RECORD.
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WED 3/15: In-class: Discussion of readings.

Assignments: Have your First Draft of your Definition/Evaluation Argument completed
and bring in three copies of the draft to class for Peer Review on Monday the 20th.

MON 3/20: In-class: Peer Review. Students need to bring in three copies of their essays,
and will exchange their papers with other students in order to respond to the provided Peer
Review Questionnaire. Informal discussion of the topics.
Assignments: Take into account your peers’ responses to your papers, and have your Second
Draft ready to turn in (with the attached Peer Reviews) by Wednesday the 22nd.

WED 3/22: In-class: Individual student-teacher conferences. Apx 10-15 minutes per
student. Turn in your Second Draft.
Assignments: Re-visit Chs 14 and 19 for discussion on Monday.

MON 3/27: In-class: Your paper will be returned and the completed final draft will be due
on Wednesday the 29th. Discussion of figurative language and fallacies.
Assignments: Revise and refine Essay #2.

WED 3/29: In-class: Turn in your final draft of Essay #2. We will re-visit Martin Luther
King and watch a video of his “I have a Dream Speech.” This discussion will lead us into the
Visual Rhetoric aspect of the class.
Assignments: Read Chapter 15, 16 and 17. Begin to think about your Visual Rhetoric
assignment.

MON 4/3: In-class: Discussions about the readings, the impact of visual images and we will
touch briefly upon the idea that music also “is an argument.”
Assignments: Bring in some images, or links to images, that you want to share with the class
on Wednesday. Think about whether you want to include music in your Visual Argument,
how much dialogue to include….. In other words, think about this important Final Project.

WED 4/5: In-class: We will look at some of the images brought in and have a discussion
about the impact of visual images.
Assignments: Continue working on first draft. Bring in your First Draft on Monday the 10th.

MON 4/10: In-class: First Draft of Visual Argument due. We will have a Group discussion /
Peer Review of your Visual Argument. Gathering in groups of three, you will discuss and
critique each other’s work.
Assignments: Review the changes that you might want to make in your argument and be
prepared to discuss this project on Wednesday the 12th in your individual conferences.

WED 4/12: In-class: Individual student-teacher conferences. Apx 10-15 minutes per
student.
Assignments: Complete you final project and be prepared to present your argument to the
class.
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MON 4/17: In-class: Visual Rhetoric presentations.

Assignments: Write a short critique of each presentation to include on your blog site.

WED 4/19: In-class: Visual Rhetoric presentations.

Assignments: Write a short critique of each presentation to include on your blog site. Make
your final argument for the grade you think you deserve.

MON 4/24: LAST DAY OF CLASS. Turn in your final argument defending your
portfolio and arguing for your grade.

THERE WILL BE NO “FINAL EXAM” MEETING.