ENGL 6166 Syllabus (Spring 2026)
Assignments
Canvas Access
January 14th: Introduction to Course
Read Isaac Asimov’s article “Cult of Ignorance” (1 page)
-and- Gorgias’ “Encomium of Helen,” Trans. Brian R. Donovan (very short)
-and- Isocrates’ “Encomium of Helen,” Trans. David Mirhady (very short)
-or- J. A. Freese Translation
-and- Susan Biesecker’s “Rhetoric, Possibility, and Women’s Status in Ancient Athens” (on Canvas)
January 21st: Plato’s Phaedrus Available online here
January 28th: Aristotle’s On Rhetoric Book 1
Available Online Here
February 4th: Isocrates selections
Available through Atkins Library (Login to your account first)
February 11th: St. Augustine’s On Christian Doctrine [Rhetoric]
Available Online Here
February 18th: Knoblauch. Ch. 1 and 2
February 25th: Descartes, Rene, Discourse on Method
Available Online Here
Les Miserables Selections
Vol 2: Cosette, Book 1: Waterloo, Ch. 17
Vol 2: Cosette, Book 1: Waterloo, Ch. 18
Vol 5: Jean Valjean, Book 1: War Between 4 Walls, Ch. 5
Vol 5: Jean Valjean, Book 1: War Between 4 Walls, Ch. 20
Midterm Mini-Rhetorical Analysis Due–Friday, 2/27, 11:00 pm on Canvas
March 4th: Knoblauch, Ch. 3 and Constitutive Rhetoric
March 9th – March 14th: No Class—Spring Break
March 18th: No Class—Read Ahead and Check Canvas
March 25th: Mary Wollstonecraft’s A Vindication of the Rights of Women
Available through Atkins Library Here
Containment Rhetorics and Black Women’s Rhetorics
April 1st: Truth, Politics, and Hannah Arendt
April 8th: Jacques Derrida’s Positions
Barthes, Roland. “Death of the Author” on Canvas
Barthes, Roland. ” Novels and Children” from Mythologies on Canvas
April 15th: Knoblauch. Ch. 4 and Ch. 5
April 22nd: Knoblauch. Ch. 6, 7, and “Afterword”
April 29th: Feminisms, Rhetorics, Herstories
Last Day of Class—Rhetoric/al Projects Due (On Canvas)
May 6th: Final Exam Day–Presentations