WRD 103: Composition & Rhetoric I Rotating Header Image

Course Calendar

Please note that this calendar is designed to be flexible: we may make changes along the way, depending on your interests and the needs of the class. Should you miss a class, you are responsible for knowing about—and adjusting for—any changes by getting notes and other materials from a classmate. Professional protocols and collegiality call for you to alert us if you’ll be missing on a day when we’re having a workshop or when you are scheduled to present materials.

Week 1
Introductions, key concepts, & course goals
Thursday 9/8 In class: Introductions, key concepts, & course goals
Due
: Course Survey
Preview:

  • Key terms: claim, fact, assumption, premise, warrant, opinion, argument, advocacy
  • Key rhetorical contexts: subject, purpose, audience, and occasion; reader-based writing that accomplishes something
  • St. Martin’s Handbook
  • Reading
  • Context
  • Digication: summary and photo essay
Week 2
Designing compositions rhetorically:
purpose, audience, context
Tuesday 9/13 Reading: NYT — Reckoning 9/11 section
In class
: Summaries and rhetorical précis
Due
: Written summary of a 9/11 article, and a photo essay: “My First Week at DePaul”
Thursday 9/15 Reading: NYT, continued
In class
: Rhetorical précis, continued (2):

  • 9:40 section, post a précis on Kristoff’s “We’re Rich! (In Nature.),” Sunday Review section, p. 11
  • 11:20 section, post a précis on “On Campus, It’s One Big Commercial,” from the Sunday Business section, p.1. (also have a look at the slide show for that article)
  • Both sections, post your revised initial, first summary in précis form, and keep both versions; we want to be able to see your original summary and the revised version, in précis form. Here’s one possible organizing principle for that.

Due: Rhetorical précis
Background
: NYT, Chicago

DePaul University Museum opens 9/17
Week 3
Reading and writing rhetorically:
ethos, pathos, & logos
Tuesday 9/20 Reading: NYT, as assigned Sunday via email:
Everyone should read the front section and the Sunday Review section; you should also be seeking out sections that tend to interest you more than others — Sports, Business, Arts, Style & Fashion — try to note stories, trends, and writers that interest you. Education majors, note that the NYT Sunday Magazine is a special issue on Education this week.

  • For the section that meets at 9:40 a.m., there was a request to choose from the Arts & Leisure section. See Arts & Leisure Part I, page 16: “A Writer of Bodies Delves into Survival.” It’s a dance review, but as you read slowly and carefully, you will see that there are also arguments. They might be subtle, implied, and unspoken. Can you find them? Or one?
  • For the section that meets at 11:20 a.m., there was a request to choose from the Sunday Review section. On page 13 you will find “Glimpses of the Next Great Famine.”
  • Course Contract discussion
  • St. Martin’s 13b: “Working with quotations”; note how some are rhetorically active verbs (“claims”) and some are not (“says”). Can you tell the difference? Samples.

Due: Précis
Background:

Thursday 9/22 Reading: NYT, as assigned
Due: Rhetorical précis — your choice — any argument, essay, editorial, or opinion from the Op-Ed section — it can be from last Sunday’s paper or any daily edition this week.

In class:

Week 4
Planning and drafting a textual analysis
& individual conferences — schedule and sign-up TBA
Tuesday 9/27 Reading: NYT, as assigned
Due
: Textual Analysis draft
Background: St. Martin’s Handbook
8a: Recognizing argument
8b: Thinking critically about argument

8c: Considering cultural contexts

8d: Emotional, ethical, and logical appeals

8e: Identifying elements of an argument

8g: Sample rhetorical analysis of an argument
Thursday 9/29 Reading NYT, as assigned
In class: Writing workshop
Due
: Editorial Peer Review
Week 5
Advocacy and Argument
… and why you’ll want to be in a good writing group the next several years
Tuesday 10/4 Reading: NYT, as assigned
Due
: Textual Analysis, Final Draft
Writing Center Presentation and previewing the argument & advocacy assignment:
From your St. Martin’s Guide:

7d: Analyzing a text
8e: Identifying elements of an argument
9b: Determining whether a statement can be argued
9i: Organizing an argument
9k: A student’s argument essay
Thursday 10/6 Reading: NYT, as assigned
In class: Persuasive Writing Workshop
Due
: Advocacy & Argument Statement of Purpose
 Friday 10/7 Deadline 9:40 sectionMid-term Self Assessment
11:20 section: yours are due Wednesday 10/12
Week 6
Writing workshops: advocacy and argument
Tuesday 10/11 Reading: NYT, as assigned
In class:

Constructing Arguments
11a: The purposes of argument
11b: Determining whether a statement can be argued
11c: Formulating a working thesis
Due: Advocacy & Argument Draft

The first sentence of your first paragraph will begin, “I have come to believe that _______________________ …”

The first sentence of every subsequent paragraph will begin with some variation on,

“I wonder sometimes, however …”
“And sometimes I wonder …”
“But sometimes I wonder …”

Thursday 10/13 Reading: NYT, as assigned
Due
: Argument project, second draft; as we discussed and modeled in class Tuesday, you’ll take one sentence from your first draft, use it as your opening sentence, and start your draft over, from scratch. We will use this part of the process to work on — and to reflect on — the productive and generative uses of “revision”
Week 7
Audio Essays: “This I Believe”
Tuesday 10/18 Reading: NYT, as assigned
In class: Introduction to Multimodality and Multimodal Composing
Due: Argument/Advocacy, 2nd draft
Thursday 10/20 Reading: NYT, as assigned
In class
: Audio recording workshop
Due
: Audio essay script (draft)
Due: Argument/Advocacy peer review
Week 8
Audio Essays: “This I Believe”
& Individual conferences — schedule and sign-up TBA
Tuesday 10/25 Reading: NYT, as assigned
In class
: peer listening & review: audio essays
Due
: Audio essay, draft #1 — posted to Digication
Thursday 10/27 Reading: NYT, as assigned
In class
: peer listening & review: audio essays
Due
: Audio essay, draft #2 — posted to Digication
Week 9
Multimodal Composing: Remixing the New York Times
Tuesday 11/1 Reading: NYT, as assigned
In class
: Remixing the New York Times
Thursday 11/3 Reading: NYT, as assigned
In class
: Remixing the New York Times
Week 10
Conclusion and portfolio development
Tuesday 11/8 Reading: NYT, as assigned
In class
: Remixing the New York Times
Thursday 11/10 In class: Digital Portfolio Workshops
Reading
: St. Martin’s e-Handbook
65c: A student’s portfolio cover letter
In class: Portfolio checklist
Resource
: First Year Writing Portfolios: formatting, banners, and generative ideas
Resource
: Portfolio Showcase

Types of First Year Writing Portfolios:

Finals Week
Tuesday 11/15 Digital Portfolio Workshop: Audience-based & professionally composed portfolios

You can work on your portfolios during this time; we will problem-solve any technical or organizational issues; and we will have a peer-review session.

It’s a good opportunity to reflect on the conventions of academic and professional discourse and how you can use them to establish credibility for yourself and for the work you present in your portfolio.

Due: Peer Editor Worksheet

Our scheduled exam time, when we will meet for the final, official delivery of your WRD103 Portfolio:
Section 137
Tuesday November 22
8:45- 11:00 am
Section 136
Tuesday, November 22
11:45 – 2:00 pm