University of Texas at Dallas, School of Arts & Humanities

Rhetoric 1302 – 019/Spring 2006 Course Syllabus

Instructor: Heather Wood
Days/Time/Location: TR/9:30 p.m. – 10:45 p.m./JO 4.122
Office Hours: Thursdays/1:00-3:00 p.m.
Office: JO 4.118
Phone: (972) 883-2018
Email: woodh@utdallas.edu

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

Contains links to course syllabus, reference and research resources, and Lingua Moo.

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 three to four papers 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) 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 classroom.

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 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 will 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.

Disability Services

Disability Services provides for the special needs of students with disabilities. Students are encouraged to register with Disability
Services upon being admitted to the university so that they may make their needs known. Disability Services is located in the
Student Union and their telephone number is (972) 883-2070.

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 UTD email address. UTD 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 UTD
provides a method for students to forward email from other accounts to their UTD address and have their UTD mail sent on to
other accounts. Students may go to the following URL to establish or maintain their official UTD 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
assignments will receive individual attention from your classmates and me. Your mid-term and final grades will be based on your
portfolio of written observations and your work samples, including collaborative work and your three major essays. You will
directly apply what you learn in this course, argumentative writing, by arguing for your own grade. However, each component is
vital to a quality body of work: 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. Keep in mind that although we do give + and – grades at UTD, the general criteria for grading is
still based on the A-F scale.

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. 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. 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. 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.

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.

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

Major Assignments

First 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 4-5 double-spaced pages using MLA format for Works Cited.
First draft due: February 2
Final draft due: February 9

Second Essay: An integrated textual and visual essay that examines and analyzes the argument of a visual image (or images)
using the criteria in Chapter 14 of Everything’s an Argument. This essay may be created and archived in Lingua MOO or the
WWW, or it may be a traditional Word document that simply displays the image(s) in the body of your essay. Your image may
come from the visuals in Everything’s an Argument, other publications, Internet, or other media. This project should be 5-6
double-spaced pages and should cite all sources using MLA format for online sources.
First draft due: March 2
Final draft due: March 16

Third Essay: An essay that presents a causal or proposal argument using the principles and criteria in Everything’s an
Argument (Chapter 11 or 12). This essay should be 6-7 double-spaced pages and should use MLA format for all works cited.
First draft due: April 11
Final draft due: April 20

Remember: all drafts and final drafts must be turned in to me in hard copy (using MLA format and including a Works
Cited page) on the dates they are due.

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]

Tue 1/10: In-class: Intro to course and Rhetoric program website.

Assignments: Read EA Ch 1 and QA Chs 1-3

Thu 1/12: In-class: Discussion of EA Ch 1 and QA Chs 1-3

Assignments: Read Chs 2-3 in EA

Tue 1/17: In-class: Discussion of EA Chs 2-3 and demo of QA electronic resources
Assignments: Read EA Chs 4-7; Read “Able to Laugh at Their People, Not Just Cry for Them,” by James Sterngold, EA p. 500;
“The Exaggeration of Despair,” by Sherman Alexie, EA p. 504; and bring a magazine to class on 1/19 (see Response #2 on p. 76)

Thu 1/19: In-class: Discuss EA Chs 4-5; Small group rhetorical analysis of emotional and values appeals in magazine ads
Assignments: Read EA Chs 8-10

Tue 1/24: In-class: Discuss EA Readings

Assignments: Read EA Ch 8; Read “Title IX Facts Everyone Should Know,” by the Women’s Sports Foundation, EA p. 570
Essay #1 assigned (Definition/Evaluation Argument)

Thu 1/26: In-class: Discussion of Readings; Toulmin analysis of “Title IX Facts Everyone Should Know.”
Assignments: Read “I’d Never Made Love in Spanish Before,” by Sandra Cisneros, EA p. 753;“Always Living in Spanish,” by
Marjorie Agosin, EA p. 755
Tue 1/31: In-class: Writing on Essay #1; Discussion of “I’d Never Made Love in Spanish Before” and “Always Living in
Spanish”
Assignments: Read EA Chs 21-22 (Assessing and using Sources, Documenting Sources)

Thu 2/2: In-class: First draft of essay #1 due today; Peer reviews
Assignments: Work on essay #1 peer review revision suggestions

Tue 2/7: In-class: Discussion of readings; Writing on Essay #1

Assignments: Read “It’s All in the Mix: A Plastic Surgery Reality Show,” by Caryn James, EA p. 59; “Turning Boys into Girls”
by Michelle Cottle, EA p. 61; “Men Should have Better Things to Do,” by Louisa Young, EA p. 60; and “Why Shouldn’t the
Epidermally Challenged Get Help?” by Angela Neustatter, EA p. 60

Thu 2/9: Final draft of Essay #1 due

In-class: Discussion of “It’s All in the Mix: A Plastic Surgery Reality Show,” “Turning Boys into Girls,” “Men Should have
Better Things to Do,” and “Why Shouldn’t the Epidermally Challenged Get Help?”; Grammar, format, mechanics, evidence,
fallacies, and plagiarism discussion (bring QA Handbook)
Assignments: Read QA Handbook on MLA format and how to cite and create a works cited page

Tue 2/14: In-class: Discussion of EA readings and general discussion of sources; students log in to QA online; Demo of QA
Research Navigator and Documentation electronic resources
Assignments: Read EA Ch 14-15; bring Visual Exercises CD to class Tuesday

Thu 2/16: In-class: Discussion of EA Ch 14-15; work in Visual Exercises application in class, Text & Purpose, Emphasis &
Color, Organization
Assignments: Research image(s) to use for Visual Rhetoric Essay #2 and bring some to class
Introduce Essay #2 Visual Rhetoric Paper

Tue 2/21: In-class: Examine images in United Benetton ads

(http://www.benetton.com/html/whatwesay/campaigns/photogallery.shtml) and Adbusters.org (http://adbusters.org/home/)
website and note various arguments; Small group discussions of images and analysis of arguments in images
Assignments: Read EA Ch. 16-18; read EA p 408-409

Thu 2/23: In-class: Using the technology: Demonstration of Mike Markel’s Web design tutorial, linked from EA website.
Assignments: Work on format and media decisions for visual project

Tue 2/28: In-class: Moderation readings; Individual work on visual projects in class
Assignments: Complete first draft of Visual argument project due Thursday, 3/2

Thu 3/2: First draft of Visual argument due; peer reviews in class
Assignments: Work on revision of visual argument analysis paper based on peer review suggestions

Tue 3/7: Spring Break

Thu 3/9: Spring Break

Tue 3/14: In-class: Teacher-student conferences on visual argument essay; In class work on visual projects
Assignments: Work on revision of visual argument analysis paper based on peer review suggestions

Thu 3/16: In-class: Final draft of Visual argument due.

Assignments: Complete final draft of Visual argument essay; Explore electronic sites: CodePink, Adbusters, FoxNews.
Review EA Chapter 16; Read EA Chapters 11 & 12
Tue 3/21: In-class: Discussion of EA Ch 16 on Arguments in Electronic Environments. Assignments: Read “Address to a Joint
Session of Congress and the American People,” by George W. Bush, EA p. 836; “A Patriotic Left,” by Michael Kazin, EA p. 846;
“Statement of Purpose” by Veterans Against the Iraq War, EA p. 867; and “We’re All Americans…But, Which One of Us is a
Muslim?” EA p. 863

Thu 3/23: In-class: Introduce Paper #3 project (Causal or Proposal Essay)

Discussion of EA Readings; Discussion of “Address to a Joint Session of Congress and the American People,” “A Patriotic Left,”
“Statement of Purpose,” and “We’re All Americans…But, Which One of Us is a Muslim?”
Assignments: Start thinking about your final paper topic; QA Readings

Tue 3/28: In-class: Bring QA; discussion of QA Readings & EA Readings

Assignments: Read “I Have a Dream,” by Martin Luther King Jr., EA p. 811; “Journey Toward Wholeness,” by La Escondida,
EA p. 799; “A Hindu Renaissance,” by Deborah Caldwell, EA p. 789; and “God’s Justice and Ours,” by Antonin Scalia, EA p.
816

Thu 3/30: In-class: Discussion of EA Readings; Discussion of “I Have a Dream,” “Journey Toward Wholeness,” “A Hindu
Renaissance,” and “God’s Justice and Ours”
Assignments: Choose possible topics for Causal/Proposal argument for Paper #3

Tue 4/4: In-class: Teacher conference on paper topics

Assignments: Work on first draft of essay #3

Thu 4/6: In-class: Writing in class on first draft of essay #3

Assignments: Continue working on first draft; bring hard copy of first draft to class on Thu 4/11

Tue 4/11: In-class: First draft of essay #3 due; Peer reviews of first draft of essay #3
Assignments: Continue working on essay #3 using peer feedback

Thu 4/13: In-class: Discussion of revision techniques and elevating style (bring QA Handbook); In-class writing on essay #3
Assignments: Continue work on essay #3

Thu 4/18: In-class: Revisions of essay #3, preparation for final argument paper
Assignments: Work on revisions of essay #3

Tue 4/20: In-class: Final draft of essay #3 due; Portfolios due; Write two-page argument for your grade.
LAST DAY OF CLASS.