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John TiedemannWRIT 1622Blog: http://1622writRHET.blogspot.com

Section 4: TR 2:004:00, Centennial Halls

Office hours: TR 122, W 1012, at Jazzmans

Email: John.Tiedemann@du.edu

Or, the Art of Persuading with Images, Sounds, and Words

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TheTheTheThe c cccllllaaaaSSSSssssSome two and a half millennia ago, the philosopher Aristotle famously defined rhetoric as the faculty of observing, in any given

case, the available means of persuasion. Of course, twenty-five hundred years is an awfully long time, and since Aristotles day we

have developed persuasive means, modalities, and media that Aristotle himself could hardly have dreamt of from film to audio

recordings to web pages and more. In this class, we will rewrite Aristotle for the present day by undertaking a series of experimental

projects in persuasive communication. Students will complete several such projects, including works of philosophy, history, art, and

science. Your projects will be composed in a wide variety of communicative forms: for example, comic books, documentary videos,

web sites, or songs. And as we work on our projects we will collaborate in writing a sequel, so to speak, to Aristotles Rhetoric,which will gather together the new insights into the art of persuasion that our experiments have revealed.

This class presumes no prior experience with video-editing, audio recording, web design, etc.; nor will you be required to purchase

new software. Any software we need can be had for free, and well work together to figure out how to use it.

Ill be putting material by me, you, and others on our course blog: http://1622writrhet.blogspot.com/.

AAAAsSsSsSsSignmeignmeignmeignmeNNNNtstststsEveryone will complete five compositions for class, but youll have options for each composition. Below are some of those options;

Ill likely come up with more as our conversations in class develop.

Composition 1.1: Plato, Our ContemporaryCreate a work of art that interprets, for a contemporary audience, one of the key arguments in Platos Gorgias.

Composition 2: TED @ DUCreate a comic book or PowerPoint argument designed to educate and persuade a broad public audience about a

new, unfamiliar idea that youre passionate about.

Composition 3.1: Objects of InterestCreate a 1015-minute video documentary about a place, person, event, idea, artwork, or other object that

fascinates you.

Composition 4: The RhetoricRewrittenReflect upon the work that you did this term by writing a chapter for our Rhetoric Rewritten web site. Your

chapter should teach a rhetorical concept as it applies across several modes of communication, to an audience

consisting of next years incoming class.

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gRgRgRgRadesadesadesadesFor each of your compositions, you will receive a provisional grade on the draft preceding the final draft, 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 essays is due to me on Sunday, March 14, by noon.

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

assignment relevant dates point value % of final grade

Composition 1 First draft: Jan. 19; revised draft: Jan. 21; final draft: March 14. 100 points 10%

Composition 2 First draft: Feb. 2; revised draft: Feb. 4; final draft: March 14. 200 points 20%

Composition 3 First draft: Feb. 16; revised draft: Feb 18; final draft: March 14. 200 points 20%

Composition 4 First draft: March 2; final draft: March 14. 200 points 20%

Composition 5 First draft: March 9; final draft: March 14. 200 points 20%

Engagement 100 points 10%

Ill use the conversion tables below when calculating grades:

Letter grade to point value point value to final grade

Composition 1 Composition 25 Engagement

A = 94100 187200 100 9341,000 pts. = A

A = 9093 180186 - 900933 = A

B+ = 8789 174179 - 867899 = B+

B = 8386 166173 86 833866 = B

B = 8082 160165 - 800832 = BC+ = 7779 154159 - 767799 = C+

C = 7376 146153 76 733766 = C

C = 7072 140145 - 700732 = C

D+ = 6769 134139 - 667699 = D+

D = 6366 126133 66 633666 = D

D = 6062 120125 - 600632 = D

F = 059 0119 0 0599 = F

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ccccououououRsRsRsRseeee ccccalealealealeNNNNdadadadaRRRRTuesday, Jan. 4 Introduction: Tradition, innovation, and the art of revision.

Thursday, Jan. 6 Discussion: Plato, the Gorgias (first part)

Tuesday, Jan. 11 Discussion: Plato, the Gorgias (second part)

Thursday, Jan. 13 Discussion: Raphael, The School of Athens

Tuesday, Jan. 18 Studio: Draft of Composition 1 due in class.Thursday, Jan. 20 Discussion: Aristotle, the Rhetoric, Book I

Revision of Composition 1 due to me by start of class.Tuesday, Jan. 25 Discussion: Scott McCloud, TED presentation; Art Speigelman, from In the Shadow of No Towers.

Thursday, Jan. 27 Discussion: Scott McCloud, from Understanding Comics and Making Comics.

Tuesday, Feb. 1 Studio: Draft of Composition 2 due in class.Thursday, Feb. 3 Discussion: Aristotle, the Rhetoric, Book 2

Revision of Composition 2 due to me by start of class.Tuesday, Feb. 8 Discussion: Colfax Ave.: A Documentary Film.

Thursday, Feb. 10 Studio: Lights! Camera! Action!

Tuesday, Feb. 15 Studio: More lights! More cameras! More action!

Thursday, Feb. 17 Studio: Draft of Composition 3 due in class.Tuesday, Feb. 22 Discussion: Aristotle, the Rhetoric, Book 3

Revision of Composition 3 due to me by start of class.Thursday, Feb. 24 Discussion: Ludwig Wittgenstein, from Philosophical Investigations

Tuesday, Mar. 1 Studio: The Rhetoric Rewritten: Your Chapter

Thursday, Mar. 3 Studio: Draft of Composition 4 due to me by the start of class.Tuesday, Mar. 8 Studio: Final Revisions

All final drafts of all compositions due to me by noon on Sunday, March 13.