CMM 205:  The Rhetorical World

(Multicultural Studies, Writing Intensive)

Fall 2008

Monday and Wednesday, 2:00 – 3:15             409 Smith Hall

Required Texts and Supplies

1.  Brummett, Barry.  2006.  Rhetoric in Popular Culture, 2e.  Thousand Oaks, CA:  Sage.

2.  Keith, William M. and Christian O. Lundberg.  2008.  The Essential Guide to Rhetoric.  Boston:  Bedford/St. Martin’s.

3.  A small (70-page or so), letter-sized spiral-bound notebook for recording journal entries by hand OR a small binder or folder for holding typewritten responses.  This is separate from the notebook you’ll use daily for class.

4.  I will distribute additional readings electronically through the semester.  Occasionally, you will be responsible for printing out these supplemental readings as assigned.

Course Description, Credits, and Prerequisites

An introduction to the study of rhetoric as a force in influencing societies and human behavior.  3 credit hours.  PR:  CMM 103, 104H, 207, 305, or YGS 161.

Course Philosophy and Themes

This course will teach you to notice and analyze the rhetorical dimensions of many cultural artifacts in your everyday life.  In addition, this course will introduce you to the field of semiotics, the interpretation of cultural signs.  We will operate on the assumption that the artifacts of popular culture function as persuasive messages, and we will look at different ways these messages may be communicated and interpreted.  Our work will begin with the study of rhetorical theory that can inform our investigation.  Then, it will move outward to analyze many rhetorical and semiotic aspects of popular culture.

Desired Learner Outcomes/Objectives

At the end of the semester, you should be able to do the following:

• define rhetoric, semiotics, and their related components
• articulate key developments in the rhetorical tradition and in contemporary semiotics
• understand the strengths and limitations of major rhetorical critical perspectives
• identify the rhetorical dimensions of popular cultural artifacts and interpret them through a variety of theoretical lenses
• recognize the role of cultural perspective in interpretation of cultural artifacts
• recognize the persuasive power of a culture’s artifacts in shaping the lives of that culture’s members
• analyze closely one cultural artifact from a particular perspective using terms, concepts, and theories introduced in class

Writing Intensive Goals

• enhance writing skills and strategies
• enhance critical thinking skills through various forms of writing, both informal and formal
• engage actively with course subject matter through various forms of writing, both informal and formal

Evaluation of Learner Outcomes

You will demonstrate your achievement of course objectives via two objective/essay exams, journal entries, an analytic paper project, a reflective essay, and participation in class activities and discussions.  These requirements will carry the following weight in determining your final grade:

                        Hour Exam #1                                                  15%

                        Hour Exam #2                                                  15%

                        Journal (3 reviews, 10% each)              30%

                        Analysis Paper                                      20%

                        Self-analytic Reflection Paper (Final Exam)       10%

                        Preparation, punctuality, participation    10%

You will receive additional details about each assignment, including guidelines for preparing the assignment and an explanation of how it will be evaluated, well in advance of its due date.

The final grade you earn for the course will reflect your semester percentage of 100 points on the following scale:  90 – 100 = A, 80 – 89 = B, 70 – 79 = C, 55 – 69 = D, 0 – 54 = F.  For example, if you earn an 80% on the Hour Exam #1, you will have earned 80% of 15, or 12 points toward your final grade.

Course Policies

1. Attendance.  Students who miss more than four classes for other than university-sponsored/excused reasons or religious holidays can earn no higher than a C in the course.  You must be present when I circulate the attendance sheet and stay for the entire class period in order to be counted present for that class meeting.
2. Preparation, participation, punctuality (3P grade).  This is not a lecture course.  In order to meet the objectives of the course, you will need to attend each class having completed the assigned reading and writing and having prepared yourself to be an informed participant in class discussions and in-class activities.
3. Academic integrity.  We will follow the policies fully described on pages 106-109 in the Marshall University Undergraduate Catalog 2008 – 2009 (available online at < http://www.marshall.edu/catalog/undergraduate/ug_08-09_published.pdf >).  During the semester we will talk more specifically about the implications of this policy for particular assignments.

4.      Accommodation for Students with Disabilities and Student Athletes.  Please examine the syllabus carefully to identify the class activities for which you will require special accommodation and schedule a meeting with me about this early in the semester.  I will work with you to develop a plan to accommodate your needs and help you meet course requirements.

5. Make-up exams and presentations.  Make-up exams and presentations will be available only for documented medical emergencies and university-excused absences.  Please schedule optional activities around exam and presentation dates.  If you have an unavoidable conflict, please let me know as far in advance as possible so that we can arrange an appropriate accommodation.  Make-up exams may differ significantly from the exams given in class.
6. Due dates.  The components of the out-of-class written assignments are due in hard copy on or before their scheduled dates.  Please retain an electronic copy of your paper until I have commented on your hard copy and returned it to you with your grade.
7. Missed classes.  When you are absent, it is your responsibility to find out from a classmate what notes, handouts, assignments, or other course material you missed.  Most handout materials will be available on our course web page.  Depending upon the nature of the assignment, you might not be able to make up informal, in-class writing and activities for credit.
8. Office hours.  I will keep the office hours posted at the beginning of this syllabus, and I welcome your visits during those times.  I am available to meet with you at other times by appointment only.
9. Class communication.  From time to time, I will send course updates, links to additional readings, and other information via the class e-mail list as maintained by the Marshall University Registrar.  Please check your Marshall e-mail account frequently or arrange to have your MU e-mail forwarded to the account you do read regularly. I attempt to respond to student e-mail within 48 hours.

Course Outline

(subject to change as the semester progresses)

Notes

Journal Entry Guidelines, Prompts, and Evaluation

How can I tell what I think till I see what I say?

--attributed to English novelist E. M. Forster (1879-1970)

Journal writing is a valuable exercise for discovering and sharpening one’s thinking, and it is one of my favorite assignments.  I am looking forward to learning more about our rhetorical world by reading about your engagement with it.  Following are guidelines for your journal writing, the assigned journal prompts, and the plan for evaluating your work.

Guidelines

·        Please write to the prompts below on the days scheduled on the Course Outline. 

·        You may prepare handwritten entries that you keep in a thin letter-sized spiral notebook, or you may type your entries and keep them in a folder. 

·        Whether you submit a notebook or a folder, make sure your name is easy to find and the journal entry numbers are clearly marked. 

·        Regarding length, keep in mind that it’s the quality of thought that instructs, not the number of words.  Some prompts will, of necessity, be lengthier than others.  Think about what you write, but don’t be driven by a word or page count.

·        You will submit your journals for evaluation three times during the semester on the days noted on the syllabus. 

·        Journals are due in class on the scheduled days unless you have made other arrangements with me in advance.  I may decline to accept late journals, and late journals may be subject to a scoring penalty.

Prompts

Journal 1:  Keith and Lundberg write that behind various definitions of rhetoric is, “the core idea . . . that rhetoric has something to do with the relationship between language and persuasion” (3).  Reflect on the relationship between language and persuasion and write about the ways you find rhetoric at work both positively and negatively in our culture. 

Journal 2:  Using terminology found in the reading in Keith and Lundberg,  pp. 11-23, describe and analyze an experience you have had as an audience member.

Journal 3:  Keith and Lundberg argue that “the principles of classical rhetoric apply to electronic communication” (72).  Analyze an online group to which you belong or in which you have participated and reflect on whether your experience supports or refutes Keith and Lundberg’s claim.  Use one detailed example to support your position.

Journal 4:  Why do you think Dr. Gilpin is giving a test on terms and concepts in Keith and Lundberg?  Of what value might these terms and concepts be in the reading and assignments that follow?  How do you best prepare yourself for such an exam?

Journal 5:  Complete Exercise 1.6 in Brummett, p. 29.

Journal 6:  Complete Exercise 2.6 in Brummett, p. 86-87.

Journal 7:  Complete Exercise 3.2 in Brummett, pp. 96-97.

Journal 8:  Writer’s Choice:  Complete Brummett Exercise 3.8, p. 119; Exercise 3.9, pp. 120-121; or Exercise 3.10, p. 122.

Journal 9:  Draw on the “text in context” concepts of metonymy, power, and judgment (Brummett, pp. 131-134) to discuss insights these concepts produce when applied to your favorite television show.

Journal 10:  Imagine you’ve arrived on Earth from another planet.  Soon after arrival, you see The Wizard of Oz, which has been described to you as “an American classic.”  What sense do you make of gender roles in America from this film alone?  How accurate would this have been in 1939? Now?

Journal 11:  What artifact will you analyze in your paper, and what critical perspective will you adopt?  Why is this perspective the best one for your artifact?

Journal 12:  What is the greatest challenge you face in completing your analysis paper, and how might you successfully overcome it?  What questions do you still have about your artifact?

Evaluation

Each time you submit your journal, I will be reading your four most recent prompts.  I will evaluate them as a set and assign a score of 0-10.  You will submit your journal for evaluation three times during the semester, for a total possible score of 30, or 30% of your final grade.

To earn evaluations in the 8-10 point range on each submission, you will need to demonstrate critical thinking, originality, insight, and an appropriate understanding of the related reading.  The idea here is to think, reflect, analyze, apply, or demonstrate whatever intellectual activity the prompt suggests.  Instead of just a topic to write about, consider the prompt as a heuristic, or a tool for thinking.  The best prompt responses contain insights that probably would have occurred to the writer except for the acts of thinking and writing.

Please come to see me if you are uncertain how to approach this assignment.  I’m happy to help your journal writing add value to your experience of the course.