Participation (Every Class Meeting)
This is not a drill-on-skill type of course. I expect everyone to be involved in class discussions, which are extremely important for critical thinking. You must contribute to class discussions. Twenty percent (20%) of your grade is based on participation.
In-class participation means you are ready to be called on at any time to respond to a question, prompt, and/or suggestion about the course material. Yes, I will call on you in class periodically, so be prepared to demonstrate that you’re reflecting thoughtfully on the readings. Thoughtful reflection doesn’t mean you give THE answer; instead, it means you show awareness for the complexity of our subject by describing your interpretation or asking questions that demonstrate critical thinking (as opposed to certainty). We embrace ambiguity in this course.
Merely showing up will not get you participation credit—you must engage the course materials. If you’re not in class, you can’t receive credit, so your participation grade will be affected. I will note your participation (or lack thereof) daily. Thoughtful participation means that you engage critically in our discussions or ask engaging questions about the subject. Contributions AND questions both count as participation, so, if you’re confused, please ask.
Doing work for another class or distracting other students will lower your participation grade—even to the point of falling below 20% (meaning, you can have a negative participation grade).
Please see me ASAP if you’re concerned about your participation grade because you’re shy or if you don’t understand these requirements. Telling me at the end of April that you didn’t participate because you’re the quiet type or because you didn’t understand what “thoughtful” meant will be too late. The purpose of participation is for students to have control over their own learning and to reinforce critical thinking generally and dialogic exchange of ideas specifically. I am willing to provide a quasi-alternative to supplement a student’s participation grade, but please note that discussion, which allows speakers to exchange ideas, is an extremely important component of critical thinking. One alternative is to do class reflections you post online. Please discuss this alternative with me early in the semester…like today!
Canvas Posts (Due Weekly–14 total)
In order to facilitate beyond-the-classroom-reflection, I’ll ask you to go to Canvas and respond to the prompt for that week. These should be at least 250 words. There’s no right or wrong answer, but I do expect you to be inspired by the course material.
Make sure you do these posts by 11:00 pm on Fridays.. Remember, the first one was your introduction worth 5 points; the 13 others are 15 points each.
Critical Thinking Essay (Draft: 2/07; FINAL DUE: 2/21)
This early semester work is supposed to demonstrate your commitment to thinking critically about a subject. This isn’t a research paper (although you’ll most likely use sources), but you will have to advance an argument about a topic. This is a class on rhetoric, so I expect you will provide assertions as well as sound argumentation for that assertion.
- Assertion: Contemporary boycotts are futile attempts to change deep-seated systemic problems with capitalism…
- Assertion: Boycotts focus narrowly on specific companies but rarely address totalizing concerns (national, global, industry-wide, etc.).
While some boycotts may cause companies to rethink or discontinue a practice… - Argument: Capitalism is too pervasive to be addressed through simple campaigns like boycotts…
- Argument: Consumers may feel they’re effecting change by focusing on a single company, but other companies might be as problematic (or more so) than the one being boycotted…
- Argument: The underlying profit motive of capitalism drives companies to maintain sales, so they may respond to boycotts but not fundamentally alter their business models…
- Argument: Boycotts
- For Example: The BP-Transocean-Halliburton spill (2010) drew the ire of consumers because of the pollution the incident caused; however, boycotting BP was not an effective solution because there are many petroleum companies supplying gasoline. The boycott never addressed the precarity of petroleum infrastructure, overwhelming demand for oil, or the global market place for petroleum products–all of which combine to risk environmental damage.
The above “Arguments: …” are not complete, and your essay ought to have more support. Again, you don’t need to do research, but you need to have a logically sound argument. The goal of this essay isn’t to end the debate on fossil fuels, LGBTQIA+ issues, capitalism, reproductive freedom, etc.; instead, it’s to present a map of your thinking to someone who will scrutinize your arguments. This “essay” won’t necessarily be finished even with your final submission. It’s a writing as thinking assignment meant to allow you to work through a topic of interest.
Below are the format logistics:
- Typed, double spaced (except heading), 12 pt font
- 1-inch margins all around
- Page numbers (anywhere)
- A title other than “Critical Thinking Essay“
- ENGL, COMM, & WRDS 4000-level: At least five (5) pages but no more than six (6) pages
- ENGL 5050: At least seven (7) pages but no more than eight (8) pages
If you do use outside sources, use them according to the style guide of your choice (MLA, APA, Chicago, etc.), and include the proper in-text citation and Works Cited/References formatting. The Works Cited/References page(s) does not contribute to the 5-6 or 7-6 page requirement. Also, don’t pad your essay with unnecessary long quotations. When you don’t introduce a quotation, it’s a dead giveaway that you’re throwing it in to boost your essay’s length. That’s not appropriate and will affect the final grade.
Midterm Exam (March 14th)
This will be on Canvas, and you’ll do it wherever you have internet access. It will cover the readings, major concepts, and (some) class discussion topics. As I’ve mentioned, we can’t cover everything in great detail, but the Midterm Exam will reflect the class material up to March 7th.
Rhetoric of Fear Analysis Essays (Draft: 4/11; FINAL DUE: 5/02)
As you read and participate in class discussions, consider the rhetoric that surrounds you, bombards you, entertains you, and (attempts to) motivate you. Because no communication situation is devoid of rhetoric, you have lots of material. You’ll need to choose an instance of rhetorical discourse (widely defined—speeches, media, books, etc.) related primarily to emotion. While I expect that emotion to be fear or force, it doesn’t necessarily have to be ONLY those emotions. Additionally, you may address ethos and pathos of a “discourse,” but pathos should be the main focus. You should offer the cultural context—be that American, Western, Industrial, etc.—and argue how that effects the attempt at persuasion. You may need to identify a few cultural values that highlight key persuasive markers. Also, you shouldn’t just list or state the values. You must describe (make an argument for) why you feel those values are part of a culture.
I do not expect you to go into a tremendous amount of historical detail in your essays; instead, try to pick a situation that fits our discussions regarding American ideology. Although we might all agree that a particular value (e.g., individualism) is an American value, you must offer support for such a claim—you can’t just state it.
After you identify and describe the values, you must describe how those values undergird the attempted rhetorical strategy. You may use “I” and even bring in personal examples, but you have to defend your reasons for arguing the way you do. You are required to use sources:
- You must cite from the class reading.
- You may also use sources outside of our readings.
There is no set number, but the goal is to show you’re engaging with our texts. What you absolutely, positively cannot do is drop quotations into your essay and expect the reader (me and possibly a classmate) to make the connection from that source to your argument/analysis. Besides being unethical writing, it shows a lack of sophistication for a 4000/5000-level course.
Below are the format logistics (I don’t take off for formatting, but I am always asked about formatting so…):
- Typed, double spaced (except heading), 12 pt font
- 1-inch margins all around
- Page numbers (anywhere)
- A title other than “Rhetoric of Fear Analysis”
- First draft at least seven (7) pages (due 4/11); Final draft at least nine (9) pages (due 5/02)
- 5000-level: at least eight (8) pages; Final draft at least ten (10) pages
- In-text citations: you must use quotations from the course reading and, if you choose, outside reading
- Works Cited/References page (I don’t care which style—MLA, APA, Chicago, etc.—you use for your paper, but please choose one)
Once again, the Works Cited/References page(s) does not contribute to the 9- or 10-page requirement. Also, don’t pad your essay with unnecessary long quotations. When you don’t introduce a quotation, it’s a dead giveaway that you’re throwing it in to boost your essay’s length. That’s not appropriate and will affect the final grade.
Over the course of the semester, the above ideas should make more sense. You should workshop these essays with your classmate or visit the writing center (not a requirement but suggestion). Please start thinking about rhetorical situations and bring them up in class when they’re related to our topic.
Please don’t e-mail me a draft and say “look at this.” Office hours are Tuesdays 4:00-5:00 pm and by appt. If you’re wondering if one particular mode of discourse over another would be better suited, please ask, and I’ll offer some advice.
Final Presentation (Due 5/09—Final Exam time)
Shine on your crazy diamond(s)! Basically, you get up and present on your Rhetoric of Fear Analyses. I will score your presentation on a scale of 1 to 5 based of the following criteria:
- Appearance of preparation
- Eye contact
- Voice Projection
- Relevance
- Time—don’t go over five minutes and don’t go under four minutes (practice so you get it just right)
Although it may seem like too much extra work, you should practice your oral presentations in order to gauge how long your part will take. You can’t possibly convey all the choices you made as an information designer in the time you have. Therefore, you must choose your points wisely. Whether you’re finished talking or not, I’ll cut you off if you go longer than your time limit (4-5 min). I will stop you mid sentence if need be. Again, preparation is crucial. I can’t stress enough how important it is to be prepared for all oral presentations.
Possible Alternative: Due to a potential Study Abroad conflict, this assignment might have to be submitted via Canvas and not delivered in class. In the event that happens, you will record your presentation and upload it.