John  Tiedemann  WRIT  1122  (section  71  )  

JMAC  141  Blog:  http:writrhetdem.blogspot.com      

Email:  John.Tiedemann@du.edu  Office:  Aspen  Hall  South  

Office  hours:  W:  12–4  and  TR:  12–2    (I  meet  with  a  lot  of  students,  so  it’s  best  to  make  an  appointment  in  advance.)  

 

• WRIT  1122:  WRITING,  RHETORIC,  AND  DEMOCRACY  nn    

T H E C L A S S

The practice of democracy and the teaching of rhetoric emerged concurrently in ancient Greece some 2,500 years ago. Since then, the art of participatory self-governance and that of persuasive discourse have enjoyed a constant, if sometimes troubled, relationship. In this class, we will explore the relationship between rhetoric and democracy in order to become more accomplished writers in both the academic and civic realms. Part of our time will be spent discussing (online) texts such as Plato’s Gorgias, Martin Luther King’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” and Barack Obama’s “A More Perfect Union.” Most of our time will be devoted to four writing projects:

• Project 1: What Is to Be Done? In this project, you’ll compose an argument in which you take a stand on a contemporary human rights issue.

• Project 2: The Secrets of Rhetorical Success In this project, you’ll conduct a rhetorical analysis of an example contemporary political discourse.

• Project 3: Plato, Our Contemporary In this project, you’ll write an original interpretation of Plato’s Gorgias in light of current events.

• Project 4: Writers Teaching Writers In this project, you’ll create original lessons for a writing and rhetoric handbook for next year’s DU class.

Copies of (or links to) all readings and viewings will be posted on our blog.

C O U R S E G O A L S

Goals: The goal of WRIT 1122 is to teach you strategies vital in writing for well-educated readers, who expect that writers present their positions and the reasoning behind them clearly and coherently. You will be introduced to fundamental principles of rhetorical analysis and rhetorical practice, to techniques for using readings and other source materials effectively, and to methods for generating, revising, and editing texts designed to meet specific situations. You will receive sustained practice in writing, with systematic instructor feedback, resulting in at least four finished and polished papers, totaling some 20-25 pages by quarter’s end. You can additionally anticipate several informal or drafting exercises.

Expectations: Arguing and writing well take practice, practice, and more practice; so you can expect to spend 8 or more hours each week writing for this class. The writing may involve posting to our discussion board, responding to a prompt, completing an exercise, drafting or revising an essay, or helping your peers to revise. And because a good piece of writing is the end result of many revisions, you will revise each of your essays severally, with guidance from me and your classmates.

Learning in a “hybrid” environment: This course will be taught both in person and online. The online portion will take place mostly on our course blog — http://writRHETdem.blogspot.com — and partly on Blackboard. To access Blackboard, go to http://blackboard.du.edu/, click the login button, and then enter your username and password. You’ll then see a list of the courses you’re taking; click on the link for our class.

The “hybrid” learning experience differs from traditional classroom learning in important ways: chief among them, you must take a greater degree of personal responsibility for keeping up with the work and completing your assignments on time. That said, the work that you do for this class will be just as interactive as it would be if we were meeting together in classroom. Each of you will be assigned to a workshop group; the workshop groups will share their writing with another and offer constructive criticism. What is more, I will post discussion questions for each module on Blackboard. You are responsible for posting a response to each discussion question and for responding to at least two of your classmates’ posts. This way, we will keep a lively discussion going throughout the course, even when we’re not meeting face-to-face.

P O L I C I E S • Attendance Because this class will take place largely online, we do not have a classroom attendance policy as such: that is, you will not be directly penalized if you need to miss a classroom meeting. That said, our classroom meetings are vitally important to the course: to succeed in the class, you should plan to attend them; and if you must miss any, you should schedule an appointment to meet with me during office hours.

• Student Engagement, and Participation I expect you all to be active, engaged learners and thoughtful, helpful collaborators, committed to the material, your writing, and your peers. Your level of engagement is made manifest in a number of ways, including participation in face-to-face class meetings, in online discussions, in peer review feedback, and in your efforts to improve not only your own learning experience but the learning experience of the entire class. I will assess your engagement as follows:

Ø “Superior” engagement means that the student is always prepared, often adding additional in-sights to online and in-class discussion and providing extensive feedback to writing. S/he demonstrates active learning via consistently perceptive and energetic engagement with the material, his or her peers, and me.

Ø “Average” engagement means that the student generally seems prepared. Generally, his or her participation in discussions and feedback on writing seem to encourage and support others in the class. The student’s presence is productive

Ø “Weak” engagement means that the student’s participation is listless, lackluster, or only intermittent.

• Late Work Assignments are due when they are due. I will accept late work only if you have cleared the lateness with me in advance, and then only under the most extenuating circumstances. An assignment that is turned in late without advance clearance will be graded down a third of a letter grade (e.g., from an A to an A–, from an A– to a B+) for each day it’s late.

• Civility and Tolerance The Writing Program affirms DU’s Code of Student Conduct (http://www.du.edu/ccs/code.html), which in part “expects students to recognize the strength of personal differences while respecting institutional values.” Because writing courses rely heavily on interactions between all members of the class, students and faculty must act in a manner respectful of different positions and perspectives. A student who behaves in an uncivil or intolerant manner will be asked to stop and/or formally reprimanded and/or subject to action by the Office of Citizenship and Community Standards.

Becoming educated requires encountering new ideas and information, some of which may conflict with an individual’s existing knowledge or perspectives. I expect students to engage such materials thoughtfully, in ways that reflect the values and mission of the University of Denver.

• Plagiarism The Writing Program follows the Council of Writing Program Administrators policy “Defining and Avoiding Plagiarism,” which states, “In an instructional setting, plagiarism occurs when a writer deliberately uses someone else’s language, ideas, or other original (not common-knowledge) material without acknowledging its source” (http://wpacouncil.org/node/9). DU’s Honor Code also maintains that all members of the University must responsibly use the work of others. Students who have plagiarized a project will receive an F on that project, and the instructor will inform the Director of Writing and the Office of Community and Citizenship Standards, which may take further action. Any documented acts of plagiarism after the first may be subject to more severe actions.

• Accommodations for Students with Disabilities The Writing Program will provide reasonable accommodations to every student who has a disability that has been documented by The University of Denver Disability Services Program (http://www.du.edu/disability/dsp or 303.871.2455).

G R A D E S

You will receive a provisional grade on the first draft of each of your projects, along with suggestions for revision from me. That provisional grade will rise, fall, or stay the same depending upon how effectively you revise as you complete your final draft. All final drafts of all projects are due to me by noon on Friday, March 11.

• Grade calculation

Your grade for the course will be calculated on a 1,000 point scale and distributed as follows:

assignment point value % of final grade Project 1 150 points 15% Project 2 250 points 25% Project 3 250 points 25% Project 4 250 points 25% Engagement 100 points 10%

I’ll use the conversion tables below when calculating grades:

Letter grade to point value point value to final grade

Project 1 Project 2–4 Engagement A = 140–150 187–200 100 934–1,000 pts. = A A– = 135–139 180–186 - 900–933 = A– B+ = 130–134 174–179 - 867–899 = B+ B = 125–129 166–173 86 833–866 = B B– = 120–124 160–165 - 800–832 = B– C+ = 115–119 154–159 - 767–799 = C+ C = 110–114 146–153 76 733–766 = C C– = 105–109 140–145 - 700–732 = C– D+ = 100–104 134–139 - 667–699 = D+ D = 95–99 126–133 66 633–666 = D D– = 90–94 120–125 - 600–632 = D– F = 0–89 0–119 0 0–599 = F

A R O U G H C O U R S E C A L E N D A R

This calendar is only a rough sketch. The details will appear online, on our blog: http://writrhet.blogspot.com/ Days when we’ll meet together in class are labeled “face-to-face meeting.”

Module 1: Taking a Stand Tues., Jan. 3 Face-to-face meeting: Introduction to the course Thurs., Jan. 5 The DREAM Act controversy Sun., Jan. 8 The DREAM Act controversy Tues., Jan. 10 Face-to-face meeting: The DREAM Act controversy Thurs., Jan. 12 Rough draft of Project 1 — an online workshop Sun., Jan. 15 R Revised draft of Project 1 due on Google Docs by noon.

Module 2: The Rhetorical Situation Tues., Jan. 17 Face-to-face meeting: Exigence and purpose: King, Obama, and Palin Thurs., Jan. 19 Appeals to pathos: King, Obama, and Palin Sun., Jan. 22 Appeals to ethos: King, Obama, and Palin Tues.., Jan. 24 Appeals to logos: King, Obama, and Palin Thurs., Jan. 26 WRITING DAY — We’re all working on our Project 2 drafts

Module 3: Rhetoric and Democracy Tues., Jan. 31 Face-to-face meeting: Rough draft of Project 2 — an in-class workshop Thurs., Feb. 2 R Revised draft of Project 2 due on Google Docs by noon. Sun., Feb. 5 Plato’s Gorgias Tues., Feb. 7 Plato’s Gorgias Thurs., Feb. 9 Plato’s Gorgias Sun., Feb. 12 Plato’s Gorgias

Revision Period Tues., Feb. 14 Face-to-face meeting: Rough draft of Project 3 due in class Thurs., Feb. 16 Revisions Tues., Feb. 21 Face-to-face meeting: Revisions Thurs., Feb. 23 Revisions

Module 4: Writers Teaching Writing Tues., Feb. 28 Face-to-face meeting: Project 4 Thurs., March 1 Project 4 Sun., March 4 Project 4 Tues., March 6 Face-to-face meeting: Project 4 Fri., March 9 FINAL DRAFTS OF ALL PROJECTS DUE BY NOON