Rhetoric & Composition I: Autumn Quarter 2013 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 September 12th In class: Introductions, key concepts, & course goals 
Due: Course Survey
Preview:

 

  • Key rhetorical contexts: purpose, audience, and occasion; reader-based writing that accomplishes something
  • Key terms: rhetoric, ideology, analysis, claim, argument, context, critical thinking
  • New York Times [+subscription info]
  • St. Martin’s Handbook
  • Reading
  • Digication and my example
 
   
Week 2
Summary & Analysis
Tuesday 9/17 In class: NYT as assigned — I’ll email instructions on SundayDue: Summary of NYT article, posted to your Digication
 
Thursday 9/19

Due #1: 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 #2: Due: Rhetorical précisSt. Martin’s 13b: ”Working with quotations”; note how some of the signal verbs are rhetorically active verbs (“claims”) and some are not (“says”). Can you tell the difference? Samples.

   
 Week 3
Reading and writing rhetorically: ethos, pathos, & logos
Tuesday 9/24

In class: Page One: Inside the New York Times
Due: Rhetorical précisReading: NYT, as assigned Sunday via email:
Everyone should read the front section and the Sunday Review section; you image titleshould 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.

In class: We will begin class by going around the room and hearing an informal 60-90 second overview of an interesting article that you read in the Sunday NYT — any section, any topic — why it was important and relevant to you, and why it should be important and relevant to us. It’s a great way to get a tour of the Sunday paper, and to find out what people are interested in.

   
Thursday 9/26 Due: Rhetorical précis – your choice — any argument from the Op-Ed page — it can be from last Sunday’s paper or any daily edition this week.In class:

 

   
 Week 4
Planning and drafting a rhetorical analysis
& individual conferences — schedule and sign-up TBA
Tuesday 10/1  Due: Dialogic reflection #1, posted to your Digication workspace
In class: Moving from summary to rhetorical analysis
   
Thursday 10/3 In class: Writing Center Presentation
Due: Rhetorical Analysis draft
   
 Week 5
Advocacy and Argument: Op-Ed Project
… and why you’ll want to be in a good writing group the next several years
Tuesday 10/8 Due: Dialogic #2: Replica Edition Previewing the argument & advocacy Op-Ed assignment:From your St. Martin’s Guide:

 

  • 9b: Determining whether a statement can be argued
  • 9i: Organizing an argument
  • 9k: A student’s argument essay

Background:

   
Thursday 10/10 Reading: NYT, as assigned
In class: Persuasive Writing Workshop 
Due: Op-Ed Statement of Purpose 
Due: Textual Analysis, Final Draft
Sunday 10/13
Deadline
Mid-term Self Assessment
 Week 6
Writing workshops: advocacy and argument
Tuesday 10/15 Reading: NYT, as assigned

 

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 10/17 Reading: NYT, as assigned
Due: Op-Ed project, second draft
Sunday 10/20 Due: Rhetorical précis and Peer Review: St. Martin’s 1.4b
 Week 7
Advocacy and Argument
Tuesday 10/22 Reading: NYT, as assigned
In Class: Op-Ed project, continued
Due: Op-Ed project, editing and proofreading version Preview Letters to the Editor:

 

   
Thursday 10/24 Reading: NYT, as assigned
In class: Op-Ed Project, final draft
   
 Week 8
Print & Digital Literacy Project: Reading the New York Times
Tuesday 10/29 Reading: NYT, as assigned
In class: Digication Design Workshop (UCWbL) and 
Print & Digital Literacy Project Draft #1
   
Thursday 10/31 Reading: NYT, as assigned
In class: Print & Digital Literacy Project Draft #2
   
 Week 9
Print & Digital Literacy Project, Continued
& Individual conferences — schedule and sign-up TBA
Tuesday 11/5 Reading: NYT, as assigned
In class: Print & Digital Literacy Project Draft #3
   
Thursday 11/7 TBA
   
 Week 10
Conclusion and portfolio development
Tuesday 11/12 TBA
   
Thursday 11/14 In class: Digital Portfolio WorkshopReading: St. Martin’s e-Handbook
65c: A student’s portfolio cover letter

 

Types of First Year Writing Portfolios:

Due: Letter to the Editor

   
 Conclusion & Preparing for Course Portfolios
Tuesday 11/19 Portfolio workshop and editorial feedback  You can work on your portfolios during this time; we will problem-solve any technical or organizational issues; and we will discuss editing and visual, logistical coherence   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.
 Finals Week
  Our scheduled exam time, when we will meet for the final, official delivery of your WRD103 Portfolio: Section #129: Thursday November 21, 11:45–2:00 pm
Section #130: Tuesday November 26, 2:45–5:00 pm